2016 European Open Water Swimming Championships
- Hoorn, Netherlands
- July 10th-14th, 2016
- Full meet results
In a battle of 3 of the top 4 finishers from last year’s World Championships, Italy’s Rachele Bruni and the defending World Champion Aurelie Muller of France tied to share gold in the women’s 10km title on the opening day of the 2016 European Aquatics Championships in Hoorn, Netherlands.
Bruni and Muller recorded identical 2:07.00.1 times, and without being able to separate the two, they tied for the win and will share gold. A review of photographs and video of the finish could not discern clearly the victor.
The times were rather lackluster (about 9 minutes shy of the typical world-class pace), but with the top 4 finishers just a month away from Olympic dreams, they kept close to the broader pack – with the top 14 all finishing within 30 seconds.
Italy took two of three podium spots: Arianna Bridi finished 3rd in 2:07.03.6.
The biggest story of the day was the 4th-place finish of defending champion Sharon von Rouwendaal of the Netherlands who came into this meet as the defending 10k champion.
While the nature of open water means that time projections can’t be made as confidently as in the pool, von Rouwendaal had perhaps the best chance at victory before she took a wrong turn at a buoy just before the finish. Von Rouwendaal went into that turn with a lead, but while returning to the correct course she was passed by the three women who ultimately finished in front of her.
Von Rouwendaal will be racing in both open water and the pool in Rio.
Two other contenders, both for this title and for the Olympic Games, were disqualified for making the same wrong term as von Rouwendaal in the chaos. Germany’s Isabelle Haerle, the defending European Champion over 5 kilometers; and Hungary’s Eva Risztov, who touched 3rd. Both were disqualified after the race, and the Hungarians have filed a protest of the finish.
| POS | BIB | NAT | SURNAME AND NAME | BORN | TIME | GAP | POINTS | |||||||
| 1 | 64 | ITA | BRUNI Rachele | 04 NOV 1990 | 2:07:00.1 | 20 | ||||||||
| 1 | 56 | FRA | MULLER Aurelie | 07 JUN 1990 | 2:07:00.1 | 20 | ||||||||
| 3 | 63 | ITA | BRIDI Arianna | 06 NOV 1995 | 2:07:03.6 | 3.5 | 15 | |||||||
| 4 | 65 | NED | VAN ROUWENDAAL Sharon | 09 SEP 1993 | 2:07:06.8 | 6.7 | 14 | |||||||
| 5 | 67 | POR | ANDRE’ Angelica | 13 OCT 1994 | 2:07:11.3 | 11.2 | 13 | |||||||
| 6 | 59 | GER | WUNRAM Finnia | 18 DEC 1995 | 2:07:11.6 | 11.5 | 12 | |||||||
| 7 | 73 | ITA | GABBRIELLESCHI Giulia | 24 JUL 1996 | 2:07:12.8 | 12.7 | ||||||||
| 8 | 75 | GBR | HUSKISSON Danielle | 27 MAR 1993 | 2:07:13.7 | 13.6 | 11 | |||||||
| 9 | 54 | GRE | ARAOUZOU Kalliopi | 06 MAR 1991 | 2:07:14.0 | 13.9 | 10 | |||||||
| 10 | 55 | POL | BURSKA Justyna | 07 APR 1995 | 2:07:14.5 | 14.4 | 9 | |||||||
| 11 | 71 | CZE | BENESOVA Alena | 16 APR 1998 | 2:07:16.6 | 16.5 | 8 | |||||||
| 12 | 53 | POL | ZACHOSZCZ Joanna | 17 APR 1993 | 2:07:17.4 | 17.3 | 7 | |||||||
| 13 | 74 | HUN | OLASZ Anna Greta | 19 SEP 1993 | 2:07:28.9 | 28.8 | 6 | |||||||
| 14 | 58 | RUS | KULIK Daria | 07 MAY 1996 | 2:07:29.8 | 29.7 | 5 | |||||||
| 15 | 62 | ESP | VILLAECIJA Erika | 02 JUN 1984 | 2:09:00.2 | 2:00.1 | 4 | |||||||
| 16 | 72 | SLO | PERSE Spela | 04 AUG 1996 | 2:09:00.5 | 2:00.4 | 3 | |||||||
| 17 | 57 | RUS | NOVIKOVA Mariia | 27 MAR 1995 | 2:09:13.2 | 2:13.1 | 2 | |||||||
| 18 | 70 | RUS | SAGIROVA Aygul | 16 OCT 1993 | 2:10:59.6 | 3:59.5 | ||||||||
| 19 | 68 | POR | NEVES Vania | 04 SEP 1990 | 2:11:00.1 | 4:00.0 | 1 | |||||||
| 20 | 52 | CZE | RYBAROVA Silvie | 24 AUG 1985 | 2:11:13.1 | 4:13.0 | 1 | |||||||
| 21 | 66 | UKR | PANCHISHKO Krystyna | 03 JUN 1998 | 2:12:11.8 | 5:11.7 | 1 | |||||||
| 22 | 60 | SWE | OLSSON Ellen | 02 MAR 1995 | 2:12:23.8 | 5:23.7 | 1 | |||||||
| 23 | 51 | UKR | KYRYK Maryna | 15 OCT 1997 | 2:13:54.9 | 6:54.8 | 1 | |||||||
| DNF | 76 | GER | ZIHSLER Svenja | 09 JAN 1994 | DNF | |||||||||
| DSQ | 61 | HUN | RISZTOV Eva Fruzsina | 30 AUG 1985 | DSQ | |||||||||
| DSQ | 77 | GER | HAERLE Isabelle | 10 JAN 1988 | DSQ | |||||||||
| DNS | 69 | CZE | PECHANOVA Jana | 03 MAR 1981 | DNS |
I was 10 m from Sharon when it happened. A real bummer. I almost dropped my camera in the water when we screamed at her to turn. It was not a turning buoy but a buoy marking the final funnel of the race. About 60 m from the finish. She had momentum and looked like the winner.
I would say it could have been avoided with a better course mapping by Dear Sharon. Course was quickly bending and a temporary optical illusion made the right buoy look like the left. She was very relaxed after however.
At Swedish nationals yesterday we had two swimmers missing a buoy as well.
I wish more effort would be put into making the course unambiguous.
Yes. We don’t want front running to be a risk.
“Italy’s Rachele Bruni and the defending World Champion Aurelie Muller of France tied to share gold in the women’s 10km title on the opening day of the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Hoorn, Netherlands.” I don’t think this was the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.
“defending” is sometimes (confusingly) used instead of “reigning” at meets different from the one where the title was won.
I’m not very knowledgeable about open water, so someone please help me out. Von Rouwendaal made a wrong turn and got fourth, but two others made the same wrong turn as von Rouwendaal and got disqualified? The wording of the article makes it seem kind of arbitrary that von Rouwendaal wasn’t DQ’d but the other two were, so what did the latter two do differently than von Rouwendaal that got them disqualified? Did they not return to the correct course as she did?
Von Rouwendaal properly retraced her steps. It was ruled that the other 2 did not.
Ah, I had the same question. Thanks.
Von Rouwendaal swim back to the proper line but Isabelle Haerle and Éva Risztov swim under the rope to the proper line before the finish. It was a chaos. No exact lines one hour before the start of the race, very little marks, no dressing tent, etc. Éva Risztov was also disqualified in the Worlds before London so it’s not too bad for her:)