With the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup season soon getting underway in Somabay, Egypt we're in store for some exciting racing in the Red Sea.
Stout Somabay Men’s & Women’s Fields
Forty-six men and 27 women across 24 national federations will be competing in the series that includes the Men’s and Women’s 10km individual events on Sunday. This will be followed on Monday with the Mixed 4x1500m Team Relay, an event that will again be featured at the World Aquatics Championships this July in Japan. Look for a front-ended relay competition, with the top four teams from last year’s Worlds in Budapest – Germany, Hungary, Italy and France – all bringing strong swimmers to Somabay.
Most of the world’s best open water swimmers will be in attendance, including reigning Olympic champions Florian Wellbrock (GER) and Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) as well as women’s 10km World Aquatics Champion Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) and men’s 25K World champion Dario Verani (ITA).
There’s plenty of ka-ching to race for, with $15,000 USD going to both the men’s and women’s winners of the 10km race in Somabay. Things get extra interesting for the overall winners of the World Cup as they earn an additional $50,000 USD in prize money.
More About the Men
Last year, two men shared top 2022 honours: Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) and Kristof Rasovszky (HUN).
Rasovszky is here ready to defend his co-World Cup overall title, something he says he’s keen to do coming off the Hungarian Swimming Championships in the pool three weeks ago.
“I’m always trying to be on top of the World Cup overall, so it’d be nice to win again,” Rasovszky said after his pre-race swim. We’ve put in a lot of kilometres this last week and the week before, so maybe we’re not in the absolute best form, but it’s okay as we’re preparing for the World Champs.
“The conditions here are incredible. The water’s probably 25 degrees, which is perfect for swimming,” Rasovszky added. “And there’s some wind, so it’s going to be a tactical race if the conditions are the same as they are today. I’m excited about what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Paltrinieri will make his World Cup 2022 debut when the tour comes near the Italian’s home in Golfo Aranci, Italy for the World Cup’s second stop in just under two weeks’ time.
Defending Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock is an athlete that competitors mentioned they’d especially have their eye on in the individual. The 25-year-old German is coming off a lifetime-best of 14:34.89 in the 1500m in the pool, a time he swam three weeks ago in Berlin. The effort was the fastest so far in 2023 and also set a new German national record.
“With this pool competition, my preparation to start the open water season is a little different than before. I’m very excited about the race tomorrow, but let’s see.”
With a small taper for the racing in Berlin, Wellbrock said that the last couple of weeks he’s been swimming 60-70 kilometres instead of the more customary 80km weeks.
A likely animator of the race could be Wellbrock’s training partner Mykhailo Romanchuk. Coming off racing in the pool in Stockholm and then Berlin, the 26-year-old Ukrainian has had tremendous success in the pool, winning Olympic silver in the 1500m freestyle in Tokyo, and bronze in the 800m freestyle at both the Olympics and last year’s World Championships.
Romanchuk is a rising star in the open water ranks, quickly establishing himself as one of the most well-rounded distance swimmers in the world, with the speed to hang in the pool and the endurance to last in the marathon.
“I’m concentrating more on the pool swimming. Open water swimming for me now is something new, some new experience,” Romanchuk said.
“I’m here to represent my country first, and then myself. The focus is on the upcoming World Championships, but of course, I want to race as best as possible here as well.”
France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier was fourth at the World Aquatics Championships last year in Budapest in the 10km and has to be considered one of the favourites in the World Cup 2023 season as he gears up for a potential home Olympics next year. Olivier, age 26, can be a star attraction in Paris at the Olympics and will be a medal favourite if he can continue to race alongside the best.
World Class Women’s Field
Somabay entrants Ana Marcela Cunha and Sharon van Rouwendaal have dominated the 10km at the international level, winning the last two Olympic gold medals, and three of the four World Cup stops in 2022. Cunha, age 31, and van Rouwendaal, age 29, sat number one and two in the world series events last year and will be expected to come down to the wire once more in Egypt.
This year’s World Cup opener has special significance for Cunha as the Brazilian is coming off a “significant” shoulder injury, according to her coach Fernando Possenti. Exactly 5 months and 16 days since her surgery, Somabay will be Cunha’s first competition – pool or open water – since the latter half of 2022.
If neither Cunha nor van Rouwendaal touch first after 10,000 meters, expect the likes of Worlds silver medalist Leonie Beck (GER) or two-time World champ Aurelie Muller (FRA) to challenge for the win.
Muller has been a factor in the marathon swimming scene for the better part of 10 years, winning individual silver in the 5K at the 2011 Worlds at age 21. Now age 32, Muller will be one of France’s best hopes at a medal at a home Olympics next year if she is to indeed secure qualification.
Beck on the other hand finished third at the Marathon World Series stop in Israel as she is a part of a German team that has emerged as the global force in the sport. Beck however will not be in the 4x1500m relay where Jeannette Spiwoks and Celine Rieder will race in her stead. Neither of those women raced for Germany last year in the World Championships where the team won gold with Wellbrock and Oliver Klemet.
Somabay Also Starts Olympic Fever
The Olympic Games in Paris are still over a year away, but the qualification period for open water marathon swimming is looming, with this summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka serving as the first automatic qualifier for the Games.
The three medalists for the men’s and women’s 10km in Japan will automatically secure their places in the race at the Olympics in France in 2024, while the top 13 swimmers from the February 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha will also earn spots in Paris.
With this added pressure to be prepared for the 10K this July, Olympic fever is starting to make its way around the world, with the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup beginning its 2023 tour on Monday in Somabay, Egypt.
Ready Room
The men’s 10K will begin Monday morning at 9 a.m. local time with the women’s race starting three hours later. The 4x1500m mixed relay will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time.
Contributing: Torin Koos