Evgenij Pop Acev (MKD) and Alice Franco (ITA) were the winners of the fourth leg of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix, held on August 29, 2015 in Lake Ohrid, FYR of Macedonia. To complete the 33km of their respective race, Pov Acev spent 5h39m42s, while Franco touched home in 5h44m03s. It was the second win of the season for the Italian swimmer, after her victory in the inaugural leg of the series in Argentina. For Pop Acev, this was the first success of the year.
Still in the men’s competition, Matheus Evangelista, from Brazil, got the silver, arriving six seconds behind the winner, in 5h39m48s. Also six seconds later, Tomi Stefanovski (MKD) touched for the bronze in 5h39m54s. The provisional leader of the overall ranking before the Macedonian event, France’s Bertrand Venturi arrived in the fourth position, clocking 5h39m55s.
Among women, the arrivals were not so close, with the silver medallist, Russia’s Ana Mankevich completing the race in 5h58m43, more than 14 minutes after the winner. Esther Nunez Morera, from Spain, was also well behind, getting the bronze in 6h04m15s. The Iberian star gets her third medal of the season, after silver in Parana (ARG) and bronze in the Lac St-Jean (CAN) rendezvous. Pilar Geijo, from Argentina, the leader of women’s ranking before the race, was fourth in Ohrid, in 6h18m12s – she had been first in Canada and second at home, in the beginning of the season.
The fifth and last event of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix will take place in Italy, with the traditional 36km crossing between Napoli and Capri on September 6.
Swimming news courtesy of FINA.
