Damián Blaum grimaced and struggled throughout the 2013 season, but he always finished with a smile. Especially he just won the overall title in the 2013 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix after a season-long ability to swim consistently well in warm rivers, cold lakes, rough seas, and turbulent tropics. But the personable Argentinean won by the slightest
"All my best races are in the sea," explains Olympian Brian Ryckeman. "There, I always feel in my element." He certainly looks comfortable and relaxed in the open water whether the conditions are calm or rough, especially at today's season-ending Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli. The tall professional swimmer from Belgium swings his arms methodically
Few individuals have had such as a busy or successful year as professional marathon swimming champion Trent "Trento" Grimsey. His Barraesque schedule required hundreds of thousands of air miles from his native Queensland to participate in the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix events, ocean and invitational swims around the world as well as his
The long reign of the incomparable Petar Stoychev is over on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix. With Stoychev's decision to focus on the Olympics, the vacuum created was filled by Australia's Trent Grimsey who dominated the 68 men who competed on the Grand Prix circuit in 2012. As Stoychev plans to move into other areas of the sport, the future
In an interesting mano-a-mano three-part battle between Petar Stoychev and Trent Grimsey, Stoychev took the first round with a record-setting victory in the Ohrid Lake Marathon in Macedonia. Stoychev finished in 5:19:30 to Grimsey's 5:19:55 as Stoychev threw in his well-known kick at the end of the 30 km Ohrid Lake Swimming Marathon, winning for the 11th
