Fast, flat and furious. Tough, tactical and tricky. Easy-to-see, easy-to-get-to and easy-to-understand. That pretty much sums up the Olympic marathon swimming course for the athletes, coaches and spectators at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Why fast, flat and furious? The course is held on the home venue of the Serpentine Swimming Club in Hyde Park in
The 25 finalists in the men's Olympic 10km Marathon Swim at the 2012 Olympics are good-looking, seriously-minded, hard-working individuals from 23 countries on 5 continents. They define the word Olympic hero with their athletic talents, chiseled features, handsome countenance and personable charisma. The 25 macho ambassadors of the sport are quick to
Thomas Lurz and Swann Oberson won the delayed British Gas Great East Swim that was delayed due to weather and winds. On the surface, Lurz took a weekend off of his intense training. With only 53 days left until the upcoming Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km on August 10th in the Serpentine, a weekend trip to England seems a bit out of character. But on a more
On August 9th, Keri-Anne Payne and 24 other Olympians will race 6 loops around the Serpentine. The next day, Thomas Lurz, Spyros Gianniotis and Ous Mellouli will race each other and 22 other men to stand on the Olympic podium. These two 10 km races will be broadcast to a global television audience. In many countries, the races will be simultaneously
...Thomas Lurz, one of the Olympic marathon swimming gold medal favorites with Spyros Gianniotis, is busy training hard back home in Germany: Copyright © 2012 by World Open Water Swimming Associaiton
Way back in the pre-Olympic marathon swimming era at the 3rd FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships held in Dubai in 2004, Thomas Lurz was making a name for himself as a 25-year-old world champion open water swimmer. In the river through the heart of Dubai, he won a dramatic come-from-way-behind victory over Alan Bircher of Great Britain who had
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced there are no more tickets left for the marathon swimming races on August 9th (women) and August 10th (men) in Hyde Park. Despite the sold-out seating near the start and finish of the 10km marathon swim, fortunately tens of thousands of lower-cost (i.e., free) spectator locations
The excitement leading up to the 2012 London Olympic Games is building. There are precious few opportunities for the Olympic marathon swimming gold medal favorites to go head-to-head with one another. Cancún, Mexico presented the last of those rare opportunities. The hard-fought 10 kilometer battle in the beautiful tropical setting did not disappoint.
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Spyridon Gianniotis, the world 10 km marathon swimming champion and one of the Olympic gold medal favorites in the marathon swim, was photographed holding the Olympic torch so Greek actress Ino Menegaki can light it during a torch lighting dress rehearsal at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece. While the
How close was Thomas Lurz's victory over Brian Ryckeman in the 15 km FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix (Maratón Cancún in Cancun? It was this close. Lurz finished in 2:59:55.51, closely followed by Ryckeman in 2:59:55.83. Photo courtesy of Christian Palma. Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source
