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 profound level, racing a mile is just part of his comprehensive preparation to leave no stone unturned in his quest for Olympic gold.

On the surface, he told Anglia News, “The [Great East Swim] was really nice, the weather was good, the conditions were perfect so it was nice to race and be a part of the race.”

Like Oberson with her own Olympic planning, Lurz was able to experience the variable British weather, enjoy the local foods and get in a fast race-pace mile against some professional competition. He was also able to face the pressure of winning, fine-tune his navigational skills in a new course, and experience a crowded start – all good reasons to head towards Alton Water Park in Suffolk for the weekend.

The elite results:

1. Thomas Lurz (GER) 16:52:03
2. Jan Posmourny (CZE) 17:02:78
3. Stefan Sigrist (SUI) 17:14:07

1. Swann Oberson (SUI) 18:29:45
2. Isabelle Haerle (GER) 18:31:51
3. Maaike Waaijer (NED) 18:38:99

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