World champion Thomas Lurz of Germany and FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup champion Poliana Okimoto of Brazil have committed to the Ocean Racing World Championship Series extravaganza in South Africa.

Their participation in the three-part April 2010 professional event in Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth will certainly enhance the profile of the new race and help them tone their racing skills for the 2010 summer season in the Northern Hemisphere.

Thomas and Poliana will compete in the 2K Ocean Racing Series World Championships against South African swimmers, like world championship medalist Chad Ho. The next day, they will participate in the 7K Nelson Mandela Bay Bell Buoy Challenge and the following day, they will face other top swimmers in the 750-meter King of the Bay Swim Challenge.

It will be very interesting to watch the strategy and tactics of Thomas and Poliana throughout the exhausting five-round King of the Bay Swim Challenge. They will have to survive four preliminary elimination heats – swum one right after another – to reach the final prize-money heat.

They will have to call upon all of their endurance and sprinting talent in this unusual event (see below) that will showcase all the skills of professional open water swimmers.



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