Spain's Paula Ruiz Bravo Is Heading To The Tokyo Olympic Games

Spain’s Paula Ruiz Bravo Is Heading To The Tokyo Olympic Games

Steven Munatones 06/19/2021 open water swimming No Comment

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Paula Ruiz Bravo of Spain (2nd on left), Anna Olasz, Hungary (1st in middle), Kate Farley Sanderson (3rd on right)

An Olympic dream came true for many today at the final FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Parque Urbano de Albarquel in Setúbal Bay, Portugal. 15 swimmers qualified for the Tokyo Olympics including Paula Ruiz Bravo of Spain who finished second in 2:01:58.00. The 22-year-old said: “I feel really good. It was a really fast race but I am very happy with the result. I love this place because the temperature is great and I like the swimsuit. We had a little bit of wind but I love the waves. I am so happy!”

“When I touched the pad, I couldn’t believe it! It was unreal and I was crying but overall very happy.”

Due to the water temperature, the athletes were required to wear wetsuits. “It will be interesting to see the relative performance of the swimmers without a wetsuit – which will be the case in Tokyo in the very warm water of Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay – compared to their performances with a wetsuit in the colder water of Setúbal Bay,” said Steven Munatones.

15 swimmers will qualify at the 2021 FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier. The final results:

  1. Anna Olasz, Hungary (27) 2:01:55.50
  2. Paula Ruiz Bravo, Spain (22) 2:01:58.00
  3. Kate Farley Sanderson (21) 2:01:58.40
  4. Alice Dearing, Great Britain (24) 2:02:01.20
  5. Angelica Andre, Portugal (26) 2:02:23.70
  6. Maria de Valdes, Spain (22) 2:02:49.50
  7. Cecilia Biagioli, Argentina (36) 2:02:52.20
  8. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Russia (20) 2:02:53.10
  9. Samantha Arévalo, Ecuador (26) 2:02:54.10
  10. Mafalda Rosa, Portugal (17) 2:02:54.90
  11. Spela Perse, Slovenia (24) 2:02:57.70
  12. Yumi Kida, Japan (35) 2:03:03.10
  13. Danielle Huskisson, Great Britain (28) 2:03:04.80
  14. Reka Rohacs, Hungary (21) 2:03:09.50
  15. Michelle Weber, South Africa (24) 2:03:12.10
  16. Romina Soledad Inwinkelried, Argentina (26) 2:03:13.00
  17. Paola Perez, Venezuela (30) 2:03:31.60
  18. Krystyna Panchishko, Ukraine (23) 2:04:20.90
  19. Minami Niikura, Japan (23) 2:04:55.60
  20. Johanna Enkner, Austria (21) 2:05:24.90
  21. Stephanie Horner, Canada (32) 2:05:29.30
  22. Eva Fabian, Israel (27) 2:05:29.50
  23. Alena Benesova, Czech Republic (23) 2:05:35.90
  24. Maria Jose Mata Cocco, Mexico (26) 2:07:16.40
  25. Maria Bramont-Arias, Peru (21) 2:08:14.40
  26. Lenka Sterbova, Czech Republic (26) 2:09:13.50
  27. Klaudia Tarasiewicz, Poland (17) 2:09:27.40
  28. Martha Sandoval, Mexico (22) 2:11:29.70
  29. Li-Shan Chantal Liew, Singapore (22) 2:12:19.50
  30. Souad Nefissa Cherouati, Algeria (32) 2:13:11.40
  31. Tsz Yin Nip, Hong Kong (21) 2:14:14.70
  32. Hania Moro, Egypt (24) 2:15:21.70
  33. Stephanie Houtman, South Africa (18) 2:16:32.60
  34. Sandy Atef, Egypt (21) 2:17:23.90
  35. Yi-Chen Wang, Chinese Taipei (21) 2:17:27.50
  36. Mahina Nicole Valdivia Dannenberg, Chile (25) 2:18:26.10
  37. Pac Tung Nikita Lam, Hong Kong (20) 2:21:16.30
  38. Lilian Hernandez, Venezuela (29) 2:24:19.20
  39. Pimpun Choopong, Thailand (25) 2:24:51.90
  40. Sofie Frichot, Seychelles (31) 2:26:34.00

The following 15 athletes are heading to the Olympic Games. The first 9 spots were distributed to National Federations with each country with one athlete. The best Japanese was also automatically qualified as host of the Olympics while the remaining 4 spots were split among continents (one each in Africa, Europe, Asia, America). So while Maria de Valdes of Spain finished sixth, because she was the second Spaniard, she did not qualify. The same was true for Mafalda Rose of Portugal and Danielle Huskisson of Great Britain and Reka Rohacs of Hungary

  1. Anna Olasz (HUN) – qualified
  2. Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP) – qualified
  3. Kate Sanderson (CAN) – qualified 
  4. Alice Dearing (GBR) – qualified
  5. Angelica Andre (POR) – qualified
  6. Cecilia Biagioli (ARG) – qualified
  7. Anastasia Kirpichnikova (RUS) – qualified
  8. Samantha Arevalo (ECU) – qualified
  9. Spela Perse (SLO) – qualified
  10. Yumi Kida (JPN) –  qualified
  11. Michelle Weber (RSA) –  qualified
  12. Paola Perez (VEN) – Americas continent qualifier
  13. Krystyna Panchishko (UKR) – European continent qualifier
  14. Li-Shan Chantal Liew (SGP) – Asian continent qualifier
  15. Souad Nefissa Cherouati (ALG) – African continent qualifier

The 15 qualifying swimmers from Setúbal Bay join the following 10 finalists in Odaiba Marine Park 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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