LEN Open Water Cup 2023: Sanzullo and Fabian Secure Overall Titles

WOWSA 09/24/2023 open water swimming No Comment

The LEN Open Water Cup 2023 concluded with a thrilling finale in Barcelona, where the silver medallists, Mario Sanzullo of Italy and Bettina Fabian of Hungary, emerged as the overall champions, overshadowing the winners of the last leg, Marc-Antoine Olivier of France and Lea Boy of Germany.

Marc-Antoine Olivier, France’s premier open water racer, marked his return to prominence with a stellar win, echoing his victorious start to the series in Eilat back in March. Olivier had faced a tumultuous period between his two victories, serving an in-house suspension due to disciplinary issues. However, his winning swim in Barcelona was a redemptive closure to his journey in this series.

The competition saw a fierce battle between Olivier and his Italian rivals, Mario Sanzullo and Marcello Guidi, who were both vying for the overall title. Sanzullo, with a substantial 400-point lead, only needed to finish near Guidi to secure the title. He managed to surpass this, finishing 0.3 seconds ahead of Guidi and securing second place, while Olivier clinched the first with a 1.7-second advantage. Despite Olivier’s wins in the series, he settled for the third place in the overall rankings, trailing behind the two Italians.

The women’s event had only 50 points separating the overall leader Arianna Bridi and rising star Bettina Fabian as they entered Barcelona. The race saw a surprise surge from ‘guest’ participant Moesha Johnson of Australia, who finished first but was not included in the Cup results. Behind her, Lea Boy, Fabian, and Bridi contended fiercely for the top three positions, replicating their standings from the last three legs.

At the finish, Boy managed to touch the end 1.1 seconds ahead of Fabian, winning three of the last four races. However, her absence in the first two legs relegated her to the third position in the overall rankings. Fabian, the junior world champion and world silver medalist in the relay, succeeded in surpassing Bridi by 100 points, despite participating in one less race, and consistently finishing either 1st or 2nd in the last three competitions.

The sixth and final stage of the LEN Open Water Cup 2023 results:

Men’s 10km:

🥇 1st Place: Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA) – 1:52:52.8
🥈 2nd Place: Mario Sanzullo (ITA) – 1:52:54.6
🥉 3rd Place: Marcello Guidi (ITA) – 1:52:54.9

Women’s 10km:

🥇 1st Place: Lea Boy (GER) – 2:00:40.7
🥈 2nd Place: Bettina Fábian (HUN) – 2:00:41.8
🥉 3rd Place: Caroline Jouisse (FRA) – 2:00:43.3

Final Standings

The final leg of the LEN Open Water Cup saw Mario Sanzullo and Bettina Fabian as the overall champions, with final scores of 3600 and 3400 points respectively. Marcello Guidi and Arianna Bridi secured the second positions in the men’s and women’s categories, with Lea Boy and Marc-Antoine Olivier completing the top three.

LEN Open Water Cup 2023: Overall Rankings (Top 3)

Men’s Overall Rankings:

🏆 1st Place: Mario Sanzullo (ITA) – 3600 points
🥈 2nd Place: Marcello Guidi (ITA) – 3100 points
🥉 3rd Place: Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA) – 1600 points

Women’s Overall Rankings:

🏆 1st Place: Bettina Fabian (HUN) – 3400 points
🥈 2nd Place: Arianna Bridi (ITA) – 3300 points
🥉 3rd Place: Lea Boy (GER) – 3100 points

Author
Recent Posts

WOWSA

At WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association), our articles by the WOWSA Team are collaborative, drawing from a variety of news sources. We value clarity and authenticity, which is why we utilize Grammarly to ensure our content is precise and plagiarism-free. To enhance some of our articles, we use Canva to create original images. Sponsored articles and collaborators are credited in author boxes. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA Team posts may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com and Sponsored Posts. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.