Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Xin Xin nearly stood on the awards podium at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games 10 km marathon swim [see Copacabana Beach course above] as one of the mostly unknowns in the Olympic final. Her fourth place finish in August now looks like a precursor to what the 20-year-old Chinese swimmer can do over the next quadrennial leading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Xin won the FINA/HOSA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup on Sunday in Chun’an, China.

31-year-old mother and four-time Olympian Cecilia Biagioli of Argentina was second in 2:06:37.10, just ahead of Italy’s Arianna Bridi (2:06:37.70), who won the previous World Cup leg in Lac Megantic, Quebec, Canada.

On the men’s side Simone Ruffini also missed out on a podium position in Rio with a sixth place finish less than four seconds from gold, but the Italian very much owns the FINA/HOSA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup this year. He won his second race in 1:56:01.30. Ruffini has been on a World Cup roll with medals at the three previous races: a silver at Patagones-Viedma, a bronze in Abu Dhabi, and a gold at Balatonfured.

Germany’s Andreas Waschburger finished second in 1:56:02.90 with Brazil’s Allan Do Carmo third in 1:56:05.60.

The 2016 FINA/HOSA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit finished on October 15th with a race in Hong Kong.

Men’s Results:
1 Xin Xin (CHN) 2:05:55.80
2 Cecilia Biagioli (ARG) 2:06:37.10
3 Arianna Bridi (ITA) 2:06:37.70
4 Rachele Bruni (ITA) 2:06:38.00
5 Poliana Okimoto (BRA) 2:06:38.30
6 Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) 2:06:39.50
7 Siyu Yan (CHN) 2:06:40.50
8 Lei Shan (CHN) 2:06:40.80
9 Yumi Kida (JPN) 2:06:44.20
10 Luomeng Ren (CHN) 2:06:50.30
11 Dandan Yang (CHN) 2:07:00.70
12 Xiaolin Yang (CHN) 2:07:03.00
13 Yukimi Moriyama (JPN) 2:07:05.50
14 Svenja Zihsler (GER) 2:07:08.80
15 Angela Maurer (GER) 2:07:09.10
16 Xiaoxiao Niu (CHN) 2:07:13.70
17 Olga Kozydub (RUS) 2:07:46.70
18 Muran Tian (CHN) 2:08:17.00
19 Daria Kulik (RUS) 2:08:34.80
20 Shiyue Cao (CHN) 2:09:47.90
21 Minami Niikura (JPN) 2:09:48.60
22 Honoka Hasegawa (JPN) 2:23:38.10
23 Pac Tung Nikita Lam (HKG) 2:31:02.20
24 Ming Yu Claudia Wong (HKG) 2:35:49.40

Men’s Results:
1 Simone Ruffini (ITA) 1:56:01.30
2 Andreas Waschburger (GER) 1:56:02.90
3 Allan Do Carmo (BRA) 1:56:05.60
4 Marcel Schouten (NED) 1:56:07.60
5 Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) 1:56:10.30
6 Zhongyi Qiao (CHN) 1:56:15.90
7 Jiabao An (CHN) 1:56:37.80
8 Weng Jingwei (CHN) 1:56:40.00
9 Ruoyu Wang (CHN) 1:56:41.10
10 Yohsuke Miyamoto (JPN) 1:56:42.60
11 Wenhao Wang (CHN) 1:56:52.00
12 Joaquin Alejandro Moreno Munoz (ARG) 1:56:53.40
13 Vitaliy Khudyakov (KAZ) 1:56:54.00
14 Lidou Han (CHN) 1:56:55.90
15 Chip Peterson (USA) 1:57:16.30
16 Evgenij Pop Acev (MKD) 1:57:34.10
17 Yuuya Kataoka (JPN) 1:57:42.10
18 Zibin Zhang (CHN) 1:57:48.30
19 Yifan Zhao (CHN) 1:58:34.60
20 Shuhei Matsumura (JPN) 1:58:37.60
21 Ho Yin Kwan (HKG) 2:01:10.90
22 Riku Kuwazoe (JPN) 2:01:13.30
23 Kosuke Mimura (JPN) 2:01:15.30
24 Chin Ting Keith Sin (HKG) 2:06:02.40
25 Jo Miyazawa (JPN) 2:11:10.20
26 Chun Hin Hui (HKG) 2:13:13.60
27 Tsz Fung Tse (HKG) 2:14:20.90
28 Chun Hei Bryan Leung (HKG) 2:14:23.20
29 San Ching Wong (HKG) 2:14:29.30

Videos of the races by Colin Hill are posted here.

Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association