Martina Grimaldi was not going to allow the 2013 FINA World Championships end without her feeling victorious. But it took her until the last day for her to meet the heavy expectations placed upon her. And she certainly made it exciting together with her German nemesis Angela Maurer.Similar to a repeat of today's men's 25 km world championship where Thomas Lurz beat Brian Ryckeman by a mere 0.4 seconds, Grimaldi just touched out 38-year-old Maurer by 0.1 seconds.
Eva Fabian of the USA came in only 0.6 seconds behind for a classic ending to the open water swimming schedule in Barcelona.
During the 7 days of 7 races over 5 km to 25 km distances, every race came down to a sprint finish where the judges were greatly appreciative of the high-speed cameras that enable them to accurately determine who finished in what position. Without those cameras, no way could the human eye properly determine how to identify the finish places of these world-class swimmers.
1. Martina Grimaldi (ITA) 5:07:19.7
2. Angela Maurer (GER) 5:07:19.8
3. Eva Fabian (USA) 5:07:20.4
4. Alice Franco (ITA) 5:07:22.9
5. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) 5:07:23.4
6. Christine Jennings (USA) 5:07:32.3
7. Margarita Dominguez Cabezas (ESP) 5:11:55.5
8. Yumi Kida (JPN) 5:16:25.7
9. Lei Shan (CHN) 5:16:54.3
10. Alexandra Sokolova (RUS) 5:18:14.4
11. Yang Dandan (CHN) 5:19:13.7
12. Celia Barrot (FRA) 5:20:31.8
13. Paola Perez (VEN) 5:22:40.1
14. Silvie Rybarova (CZE) 5:22:42.4
15. Vicenia Navarro (VEN) 5:23:31.8
16. Nadine Williams (CAN) 5:42:17.9
Xeniya Romanchuk (KAZ) 5:43:40.5
Wasela Hussien (EGY) OTL
Svenja Theresa Zihsler (GER) DNF
Olga Beresnyeva (UKR) DNF
125 PICKOVA Barbora Pickova (CZE) DNF
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