A record number of athletes – 74 in total (39 men and 25 women) – competed in the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup race in Setubal Bay, Portugal this past Saturday where FINA President Dr. Julio Maglione started the five-loop 2K diamond-shaped course.

As is typical, both the men and women swam hard for 2 hours culminating in a sprint finish.

On the men’s side, world champions Thomas Lurz of Germany and Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria battled for the US$2,500 first prize with Azerbaijan’s Sergiy Fesenko finishing third and South Africa’s Chad Ho fourth. But in a repeat of the 2009 5K and 10K world championships, Thomas put on a powerful sprint at the end to win in 2:01:05, one second ahead of Petar.

In the women’s race, five swimmers were in the lead after the third loop, leaving a 100-meter gap between them and the rest of the pack: Olga Berenyeva (UKR), Angela Maurer (GER), Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), Poliana Okimoto (BRA) and Martina Grimaldi (ITA).

During the fourth and fifth laps, they increased their collective lead as Martina, the 2009 world 5K bronze medalist, took control and won in 2:16:31.5. Ana Marcela Cunha earned second, while mother and Olympian Angela Maurer finished third in 2:16:34.

Photo of Martina Grimaldi after the 25K race at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Ostia, Italy by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images Europe.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones