Russia is holding its 2016 Open Water National Championships this weekend in Anapa right on the Black Sea.
Anton Evsikov won the men’s 10k race, posting a time of 1:58:56. That time was just three seconds ahead of the next-best finisher, Sergey Bolshakov (1:58:59). Evsikov is the defending World University Games Champion in the 10K race. He won that title at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea.
For the women, it was Anastasia Krapivina who took home the 10K title. Krapivina has already qualified for the Rio Olympics, and she swam a 2:07:30 for an easy win. While the men’s race came down to a fairly close finish, Krapivina dominated, touching over a minute ahead of any other competitor.
2nd went to Valery Ermakov (2:08:37), followed by Daria Kulik (2:08:40), separated by just under four seconds. Ermakov, in addition to finishing 2nd behind Russia’s only Open Water Olympic qualifier, was the top swimmer in the “junior” category for 18-19 year olds. Kirill Belyaev, who was 1:59:33 in the men’s 10K, was the top male junior in that event.
Bolshakov, the 10K runner-up, won the men’s 5K handily in 56 minutes flat. He touched more than half a minute ahead of 2nd place. Angelnia Kargaltseva took the women’s 5K in 1:03:06, winning by over a minute.
Daniil Orlov won the youth boys’ 5K in 1:01:50, while the youth girls’ 5K went to Ekaterina Zotov in 1:07:30.
Karl -Anapa is in Russia on the Black Sea NE entrance to the Azov Sea. Directly across is Crimea.
What was the temperature of the water? Air? Just curious.
Wow! Great times. So exciting to see what happens in the Olympics!