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Van Rouwendaal, Rasovszky Win European 5K Open Water Titles

2018 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands and Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary became the first two Open Water gold medalists at the European Championships in Glasgow with victories in the women’s and men’s 5k on Wednesday.

van Rouwendaal, the 2016 Olympic Champion in the 10k, established an early lead in the women’s race, with only Leonie Beck of Germany staying within striking distance of her throughout the race. At the 1.25, 2.5 and 3.75k splits Beck was only 2-3 seconds back of van Rouwendaal, but the 24-year-old put down the hammer on the final lap, out-splitting Beck by 14 seconds to win gold in a time of 56:01.0.

Beck won silver in 56:17.8, with bronze medalist Rachele Bruni of Italy back in 56:49.7. Fellow Italian Arianna Bridi (56:58.8) was the only swimmer under 57 minutes.

Check out full women’s results here.

In the men’s race, Rasovzky sat at the front of the race with Frenchmen Axel Reymond and Logan Fontaine through the first three laps, and managed to open a slight lead at the end to win in a time of 52:38.9. Reymond was 2nd in 52:41.7, and Fontaine was 52:44.4 for bronze.

At last year’s World Championships, Rasovszky was 7th and Fontaine 8th, while another Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier won gold. Here, Olivier was back in 7th, and Kirill Abrosimov of Russia, who won gold at the 2016 European Open Water Champs (separate from Aquatics Championships) was 15th.

You can check out full results from the men’s race here.

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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