Germany strikes gold in 5km team event
Source: Agencies |
July 26, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
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THOMAS Lurz knows there will come a time when he has to get on with life after swimming.
Yet the way things are going, he sees no need to trade his swimsuit for a business suit.
The 33-year-old Lurz added another world championship to his stellar open-water career yesterday, leading Germany to victory in the 5-kilometer team event at the Swimming World Championships in Barcelona.
Lurz and teammates Christian Reichert and Isabelle Harle completed two laps around the Barcelona harbor course in 52 minutes, 54.9 seconds. They went out fourth in the staggered start, 4 minutes behind Russia in the leadoff spot, but passed the Russians as well as New Zealand and Italy to touch first, giving Lurz his sixth career gold at worlds.
"I haven't thought of Rio that much," Lurz said when asked if he planned to keep swimming through the 2016 Olympics. "I have to take care what I'm going to do after swimming. We will see what's going to happen these next few years. But I still feel good. As it stands now, I see no reason to stop. This is a great accomplishment."
Spyridon Gianniotis, Antonios Fokaidis and Kalliopi Araouzou of Greece took the silver medal in 54:03.3. The bronze went to the Brazilian team of Poliana Okimoto, Allan Do Carmo and Samuel De Bona in 54.03.5.
Gianniotis added to his gold in 10K, while Okimoto became a three-time medalist at this year's world championships. She won an individual gold in the 10K and a silver in the 5K.
"We went fast," Gianniotis said. "We trained a lot for this team event. We had the same coach and it was very good for our training. We swam for our country with all the passion."
On Wednesday, Svetlana Romashina won her third gold medal of the championships with a victory in the synchronized solo.
Romashina easily took the top spot with 97.340 points, increasing her career haul to 13 world championship golds dating to 2005. China's Huang Xuechen won silver with 95.720, while Spain's Ona Carbonell took bronze before the home crowd at the Palau Sant Jordi arena with 94.290.
Huang claimed silver with a routine performed to "Phanton of the Opera." She knew all along that her main goal was the hang on to the second spot on the podium, not make a run at the Russian star.
"I'm very happy to have won the silver medal and I'm very satisfied with my performance," Huang said. "I think I need more than four years to catch up with Svetlana Romashina."
The 23-year-old Romashina said she got the idea to perform a Monroe-inspired routine, accompanied by music from the 1959 comedy "Some Like It Hot," from the daughter of her coach, Tatiana Dachenko.
"I felt comfortable in this role. I like the character, so I was really happy to play this role," Romashina said.
Yet the way things are going, he sees no need to trade his swimsuit for a business suit.
The 33-year-old Lurz added another world championship to his stellar open-water career yesterday, leading Germany to victory in the 5-kilometer team event at the Swimming World Championships in Barcelona.
Lurz and teammates Christian Reichert and Isabelle Harle completed two laps around the Barcelona harbor course in 52 minutes, 54.9 seconds. They went out fourth in the staggered start, 4 minutes behind Russia in the leadoff spot, but passed the Russians as well as New Zealand and Italy to touch first, giving Lurz his sixth career gold at worlds.
"I haven't thought of Rio that much," Lurz said when asked if he planned to keep swimming through the 2016 Olympics. "I have to take care what I'm going to do after swimming. We will see what's going to happen these next few years. But I still feel good. As it stands now, I see no reason to stop. This is a great accomplishment."
Spyridon Gianniotis, Antonios Fokaidis and Kalliopi Araouzou of Greece took the silver medal in 54:03.3. The bronze went to the Brazilian team of Poliana Okimoto, Allan Do Carmo and Samuel De Bona in 54.03.5.
Gianniotis added to his gold in 10K, while Okimoto became a three-time medalist at this year's world championships. She won an individual gold in the 10K and a silver in the 5K.
"We went fast," Gianniotis said. "We trained a lot for this team event. We had the same coach and it was very good for our training. We swam for our country with all the passion."
On Wednesday, Svetlana Romashina won her third gold medal of the championships with a victory in the synchronized solo.
Romashina easily took the top spot with 97.340 points, increasing her career haul to 13 world championship golds dating to 2005. China's Huang Xuechen won silver with 95.720, while Spain's Ona Carbonell took bronze before the home crowd at the Palau Sant Jordi arena with 94.290.
Huang claimed silver with a routine performed to "Phanton of the Opera." She knew all along that her main goal was the hang on to the second spot on the podium, not make a run at the Russian star.
"I'm very happy to have won the silver medal and I'm very satisfied with my performance," Huang said. "I think I need more than four years to catch up with Svetlana Romashina."
The 23-year-old Romashina said she got the idea to perform a Monroe-inspired routine, accompanied by music from the 1959 comedy "Some Like It Hot," from the daughter of her coach, Tatiana Dachenko.
"I felt comfortable in this role. I like the character, so I was really happy to play this role," Romashina said.
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