Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

The second and final FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier will be held in Parque Urbano de Albarquel in Setúbal Bay, Portugal on June 19th (women) and 20th (men).

The top 10 swimmers qualified for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2019 FINA World Championships. The remaining 15 swimmers will qualify in Setúbal Bay to capture one of the 15 remaining spots to compete in Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay at the upcoming Olympics next week in Portugal.

The eyes of Estonia will be on Merle Liivand, a competitive breaststroker, ocean advocate, and marathon swimming mermaid swimmer, who will compete against 43 other swimmers from 29 countries. She has some pretty tough rivals including Alice Dearing and Danielle Huskisson of Great Britain, Cecilia Biagioli, a 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympian from Argentina, Stephanie Horner, a 2016 Olympian from Canada, Samantha Arévalo, a 2016 Olympian from Ecuador, Anna Olasz, a 2016 Olympian from Hungary, Eva Fabian, a two-time world championship medalist from Israel (who previously represented the USA), Yumi Kida, a 2012 and 2016 Olympian from Japan, Michelle Weber, a 2016 Olympian from South Africa, Spela Perse, a 2016 Olympian from Slovenia, and Paola Perez, a 2016 Olympian from Venezuela.

For more information about Liivand, visit www.merleliivand.com.

FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier Women’s Entry List:

1. Majda Chebaraka, Algeria
2. Souad Nefissa Cherouati, Algeria
3. Cecilia Biagioli, Argentina [shown above]
4. Romina Soledad Inwinkelried, Argentina
5. Johanna Enkner, Austria
6. Stephanie Horner, Canada
7. Kate Farley Sanderson, Canada
8. Mahina Nicole Valdivia Dannenberg, Chile
9. Catarina Ferreira, Cape Verde
10. Alena Benesova, Czech Republic
11. Lenka Sterbova, Czech Republic
12. Samantha Arévalo, Ecuador
13. Maria de Valdes, Spain
14. Paula Ruiz Bravo, Spain
15. Merle Liivand, Estonia
16. Alice Dearing, Great Britain
17. Danielle Huskisson, Great Britain
18. Pac Tung Nikita Lam, Hong Kong
19. Tsz Yin Nip, Hong Kong
20. Anna Olasz, Hungary
21. Reka Rohacs, Hungary
22. Eva Fabian, Israel
23. Yumi Kida, Japan
24. Minami Niikura, Japan
25. Milana Boldyreva, Kazakhstan
26. Mariya Fedotova, Kazakhstan
27. Maria Jose Mata Cocco, Mexico
28. Martha Sandoval, Mexico
29. Maria Bramont-Arias, Peru
30. Klaudia Tarasiewicz, Poland
31. Angelica Andre, Portugal
32. Stephanie Houtman, South Africa
33. Michelle Weber, South Africa
34. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Russia
35. Ekaterina Sorokina, Russia
36. Sofie Frichot, Seychelles
37. Li-Shan Chantal Liew, Singapore
38. Spela Perse, Slovenia
39. Pimpun Choopong, Thailand
40. Katawan Teeka, Thailand
41. Yi-Chen Wang, Chinese Taipei
42. Krystyna Panchishko, Ukraine
43. Lilian Hernandez, Venezuela
44. Paola Perez, Venezuela

The 15 qualifying swimmers from Setúbal Bay will join the following 10 finalists in Tokyo Bay on August 4th (shown below with their qualification time and place):

1. Xin Xin (China) 1:54:47.20
2. Haley Anderson (USA) 1:54:48.10
3. Rachele Bruni (Italy) 1:54:49.90
4. Lara Grangeon (France) 1:54:50.00
5. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) 1:54:50.50
6. Ashley Twichell (USA) 1:54:50.50
7. Kareena Lee (Australia) 1:54:50.50
8. Finnia Wunram (Germany) 1:54:50.70
9. Leonie Beck (Germany) 1:54:51.00
10. Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 1:54:51.10

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Steven Munatones

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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