Olympic 10K Medalists Return To Rio
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Ferry Weertman swam the most dramatic, most exciting, most impressive race of his life in winning the 10 km marathon swim at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
His out-touching of Greek silver medalist Spyridon Gianniotis represented the closest race during his short, but storied, career.
Weertman can expect another very close race in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro at this year’s King and Queen of the Sea (Rei e Rainha do Mar in Portuguese).
Weertman and his relay partner Esmee Vermeulen will face a number of formidable duos in the 3 km two-person relay race broadcast on TV Globo.
The race will include Olympic medalists Rachele Bruni of Italy and Poliana Okimoto of Brazil, world champions Chip Peterson and Haley Anderson, FINA World Cup winner Allan Do Carmo, and Olympic 10K finalists Yumi Kida and Yasunari Hirai.
The teams include the following pairs:Brazil 1 – Poliana Okimoto and Allan Do Carmo
Brazil 2 – Betina Lorscheitter and Luis Rogerio Arapiraca
USA – Chip Peterson and Haley Anderson
Netherlands – Ferry Weertman and Esmee Vermeulen
Italy – Dario Verani and Rachele Bruni
Argentina – Guillermo Bertola and Julia Aria
Peru – Piero Canduelas and Maria Alejandra Barmont
Japan – Yumi Kida and Yasunari Hirai
Besides the made-for-television duo-relay 3 km elite competition and Grid Race, the King and Queen of the Sea event includes Sprint 1 km, Classic 2.5 km, Challenge 5 km, Super Challenge 10 km, Beach Biathlon 1 km swim + 2.5 km run, Beach Run 2.5 km, Beach Run 5 km, SUP 2.5 km, 5 km, 10 km, Kids Beach Run & Swim.
With a year like Weertman has had, it is not surprising that he was selected at Swimming World Magazine’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year and is among the nominees for the 2016 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year:
1. Roger Finch (South Africa)
2. Seti Afoa (Samoa)
3. Tomi Stefanovski (Macedonia)
4. Edoardo Stochino (Italy)
5. Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
6. Nejib Belhedi (Tunisia)
7. Ger Kennedy (Ireland)
8. Alex Kostich (USA)
9. Masayuki Moriya (Japan)
10. Colin Hill (Great Britain)
11. Ingemar Patiño Macarine (Philippines)
12. Lewis Pugh (Great Britain)
13. Christof Wandratsch (Germany)
To vote for the WOWSA Awards, visit here. Online voting continues until December 31st 2016.
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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