Alexander Studzinski of Germany put on an extra hard sprint on the ninth and tenth loops of the 10K King of the Sea (Rei do Mar) professional invitational race to a 20-million television audience and thousands of cheering fans on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Codie Grimsey of Australia took it out hard and the pace almost never let up.

Alexander opened up a body length lead at the ninth loop and never looked back although Allan do Carmo and Luis Arapiraca of Brazil, Codie, Chad Ho of South Africa and Alex Meyer were hot on his heels. “That was hard,” said Alexander after he dove across the soft sand finish.

Television coverage was live with cameras on helicopters, in the water, on escort boats and along the shore with cranes and strategically positioned locations in buildings. All the cameras were required when the men came down to the incredible finish where Luis dove across the finish to nip Chad for second and Alex dashed over Allan for fourth.

Video of the exciting finish is posted here.

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