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Friday, November 3, 2000
Spain's David Meca quieted any doubters yesterday, winning the men's 10-kilometer Federation Internationale De Natation Amateur World Open Water Swimming Championship at Waikiki Beach. Spaniard fastest in
open water 10K raceBy Ben Henry
Special to the Star-BulletinThe Spaniard won by almost 4 seconds with a time of 1 hour, 57 minutes and 10.50 seconds.
Edith van Dyk of the Netherlands was the gold medalist in the women's 10K. Ben Hanley was the top finisher for the United States in both races, finishing sixth. USA took third place in the team results.
It is the first time this event has been showcased with its own world championship. In previous years, open water world championships were grouped with other FINA water events.
The championships conclude tomorrow with the 25K race starting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village pier at Waikiki Beach.
Meca's second-place finish in Tuesday's 5K race was protested by Italy, whose Luca Baldini finished just .22 of a second behind Meca. Italy claimed he was too physical while trying to gain an advantage in the race.
Meca, Spain's only participant in these championships despite each country being allowed two participants per event, said he proved that Tuesday's silver medal was no fluke.
"(The win) shows a lot," he said. "I demonstrated something."
The 26-year-old, who is scheduled to swim tomorrow, was not among the leaders with 1 kilometer left in the race yesterday.
"I think I was in the top 10, top 15," Meca said. "These guys are very fast, so even though I tried hard from the very beginning, it was very tough, they were ahead of me by a lot. But it's a two-hour race and anything can happen."
It was a close race for the silver, with just three seconds separating second from 10th place.
Italy's Samuele Pampana was the second swimmer to touch the finish board, but he was disqualified because he cut in front of a buoy on his way in.
"He was very good the whole race, and then he lost everything," said Flavio Bomio, head referee for the race. "There were three assistants who saw it. I had to disqualify him."
As a result, Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria earned the silver medal, and Russia's Evgueni Bezroutchenko, the gold medalist Tuesday, earned a bronze medal.
In the women's 10K race, van Dyk held an early lead throughout to win by 94 seconds.
"I just started quickly and tried to (extend) a gap," said van Dyk, who had finished fourth Tuesday.
In the race, another potential medalist was disqualified. Angela Maurer was the third swimmer to touch the finish board, but was disqualified also for cutting in front of a buoy.
As a result, Germany's Peggy Buechse, the gold medalist Tuesday, earned the bronze.
Two other swimmers, including USA's Megan Ryther, were also disqualified for making the same mistake.
USA's other participant in the event, Dawn Heckman, also went the same route, but backtracked when she realized the mistake.
"People turned on their left shoulder instead of their right shoulder," said Heckman, a Pittsburgh native who finished seventh. "The whole pack went, and I knew they were wrong, but I didn't know if the whole field went that way. So I turned around and I went back around the right way."
Said race head referee Dennis Miller: "Maybe they weren't concentrating on where they were going, but concentrating on having a race with somebody else. There were 19 starters, 16 of them went the right way."
So far in these championships, USA has had just one medalist, Kalyn Keller, who finished second Tuesday.
Some USA swimmers say open water swimming, which is being considered for the 2004 Olympics, isn't their best event.
"We're really pool swimmers," said Hanley, from Santa Cruz, Calif. He and Matt Martin participated in yesterday's men's race. "In the pool, we'd be the two fastest guys out here."
Martin, who finished 11th, said it won't be long before USA makes its mark on open water swimming.
"I think the U.S. is kind of playing catch-up in the sport because a lot of countries have been doing this for a long time," said Martin, of Mission Viejo, Calif. Yesterday's 10K was his first ever.
"Within the last three or four years was when the U.S. finally started to realize that this sport is important. But we've got some of the best swimmers in the world, and we're not far behind."
Notes: Germany, Russia and the United States finished in the top three spots in team results. With each country allowed to enter up to four participants in men's and women's races in each distance, the top three times are combined to determine team results. ... Italy, Russia and Germany took the top three spots for Tuesday's races, it was announced yesterday.