Thomas Lurz won the men’s 10K in Lake Balaton in Hungary yesterday in a tactical race, finishing in1:54:22.5. What is remarkable about the lengthy streak that Thomas has enjoyed on top of the sport is how the silver and bronze medalists behind him always change.

In other words, while we can always expect different swimmers finishing in second and third, Thomas always seems to be up at the front, no matter the time of year, the type of venue, the water conditions or the race tactics.

While there is an occasional slip-up like in the 10K at the 2010 World Open Water Swimming Championships, if there is one remarkable consistency at the highest echelons of men’s open water swimming, it is seeing Thomas on the podium…usually on top.

Valerio Cleri of Italy, hot off of his gold medal 10K performance in the cool waters in Canada, also proved his versatility in the warmer waters of Lake Balaton with a silver. So did the Russian powerhouse Evgeny Drattsev who completed another medal performance after his silver at the 2010 world championships.

There were positives all around. Spain’s Francisco Hervas finished fifth after pulling out at the world championships due to the cold. Spyridon Giaaniotis of Greece finished seventh after not starting at the world championships and British Swimming was happy to see David Davies lead for 8K of the race after being dormant at the top since his silver medal performance at the 2008 Olympics. With the expectations of his countrymen riding high for David and his fellow British swimmers at the 2012 London Olympics, David is coming around just at the right time.

The final results:

1. LURZ Thomas (GER), 1:54:22.5
2. CLERI Valerio (ITA) 1:54:24.8
3. DRATTSEV Evgeny (RUS), 1:54:26.6
4. REICHERT Christian (GER), 1:54:31.0
5. HERVAS Francisco Jose (ESP), 1:54:33.0
6. BOLZONELLO Nicola (ITA), 1:54:33.1
7. GIANNIOTIS Spyridon (GRE), 1:54:33.7
8. SNITKO Igor (UKR), 1:54:34.1
9. CHERVYNSKYI Igor (UKR), 1:54:36.3
10. BOLSHAKOV Sergey (RUS), 1:54:38.4
11. FOGG Daniel (GBR), 1:54:40.2
12. FESENKO Sergiy (AZE), 1:54:41.5
13. VITEK Rostislav (CZE), 1:55:07.9
14. VANGENEUGDEN Tom (BEL), 1:55:09.4
15. DYATCHIN Vladimir (RUS), 1:55:10.0
16. CODEVELLE Julien (FRA), 1:55:11.6
17. WASCHBURGER Andreas (GER), 1:55:14.2
18. NOGUEIRA Diego (ESP), 1:55:14.8
19. FERRETTI Luca (ITA), 1:55:16.3
20. DMITRIEV Michael (ISR), 1:55:16.8
21. VENTURI Bertrand (FRA), 1:55:21.7
22. CATTINVIDAL Damien (FRA), 1:55:49.8
23. FOKAIDIS Antonios (GRE), 1:56:07.1
24. LAVRENTYEV Arseniy (POR), 1:56:24.5
25. UKRADYGA Kostyantyn (UKR), 1:56:30.6
26. GERCSAK Csaba (HUN), 1:56:33.1
27. CHARLESWORTH Richard (GBR), 1:56:33.2
28. POSMOURNY Jan (CZE), 1:57:06.0
29. AYDARSKI Ventsislav (BUL), 1:57:20.2
30. DAVIES David (GBR), 1:58:21.4
31. VIEGAS Daniel (POR) 1:59:23.5
32. BRYAN Christopher (IRL), 2:01:04.4
33. SIGRIST Stefan (SUI), 2:01:12.5
34. KUTASI Gergely (HUN), 2:01:13.3
35. RIBEIRO Hugo (POR), 2:01:41.1
36. SOLDO Josip (CRO), 2:02:30.3
37. SOLDO Tomislav (CRO), 2:13:33.4
BRION Ivan (ESP) DNF

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