Manhattan Mano-a-Mano: Mark Warkentin vs Petar Stoychev
Sponsored by WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Soon after their match race on September 10th 2009, Olympic swimmers Mark Warkentin and Petar Stoychev talked about their experiences around Manhattan Island, organized by Morty Berger on the 45.9 km Manhattan Island Marathon Swim course.
The two professional marathon swimmers were fast and on top of their game. They had both fiercely competed on professional marathon swims and at the 2008 Beijing Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, right in the lead pack around the last turn buoy. Earlier in the year, Warkentin lost in a photo finish to Maarten van der Weijden in the 25 km race at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships while Stoychev was in the midst of his unprecedented 11-year streak of victories in the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean and Traversée internationale du lac Memphrémagog.
The two competitors also recalled their memories from a great 45.9 km race around Manhattan Island on in a 2020 edition of WOWSA Live. “I announced the race live – the entire race – on the technology that was developed by Chris Lundie and was sitting on the lead escort boat,” said Steven Munatones. “Mark and Petar made the race fun and exciting to call; there were non-stop moves and strategic surges. Rondi Davies and Tobey Saracino also competed in this special four-person event, called the Marathon Challenge Swim.”
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