Italians Are King And Queen Of The Sea
Courtesy of Lexie Kelly at the 2016 Rie e Rainha do Mar (King and Queen of the Sea), Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Italy’s Dario Verani and his Olympic silver medalist teammate Rachele Bruni won a close race at the elite Rie e Rainha do Mar (King and Queen of the Sea) race today on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Five of the seven teams were always in the mix (two Brazilian teams, USA, Netherlands and Italy), but the Italian Olympian not only swam a blistering final leg, but also hustled up the beach with even more impressive dryland speed.
The Japanese team finished out of the top five after Yumi Kida [who was paired up with Yasunari Hirai] caught a wave in on her second lap, but got smashed in the head by Argentina’s Guillermo Bertola when she was running in and he was running out in the transition area. He said, “I didn’t see her because she was in the wave and I really hit her hard.”
Kida was attended to by the paramedics and was taken to a local hospital. But she was released and returned in time for the athletes’ dinner.
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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