The 2016 Rio Olympic Games will be held from August 5-21, although the date and time of the Olympic 10km Marathon Swim has not yet been announced by the International Olympic Committee.The first Olympic 10km Marathon Swam was held in warm-water conditions (27ºC / 82ºF) in a well-marked rowing basin outside of Beijing where the water was flat and the swimmers could see cables under the water aiding their navigation during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The second Olympic 10km Marathon Swim was held in the Serpentine in cooler temperatures (19ºC / 67ºF), again in a well-marked course under flat-water conditions.
While there were a few aquatic flora growing in the Beijing rowing basin and a few geese in the Serpentine, the world of Olympic marathon swimming will change when the Olympics head to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach.
In August at Copacabana Beach, the water temperature is expected to be a warm 24ºC / 75ºF) during the South American winter. But the Atlantic Ocean-facing beach can present the unexpected to the Olympic marathon swimmers. Large ocean swells and stiff winds can churn up the marathon swimming course. For the most experienced ocean swimmers, these possible bumpy conditions will provide them with a relative advantage over their pool-focused, flat-water specialists.
While the surf break tends to be in the center of the beach and away from the section where the Olympic 10km Marathon Swim will be held (near Forte Copacabana shown above), the protective peninsula can get pretty lumpy and turbulent at times.
Flat or rough, it is going to be a grand extravaganza in Rio come August 2016.
Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source
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