CHUN'AN, China, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Jack Burnell of Britain and Xin Xin from the host country got the last laugh at the 2018 FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series in Qiandao Lake, Chun'an in China's Zhejiang province on Sunday.
In the men's 10km competition, Burnell touched the board first in a time of one hour 56 minutes 34.8 seconds, beating Rob Frederik Muffels of Germany by 0.1 seconds for the title.
Olympic and world champion Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy came third in 1:56:35.3 and Rio Olympic champion Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands finished fourth 1:56.36.8.
"It is my first time in Qiandao Lake and water is very hot at last. I tried to save energy all the way and came out at last. My final sprint was pretty good, especially the last two, three strokes," Burnell said.
1500m freestyle world and Olympic champion Paltrinieri was satisfied with his performance. "I competed in Doha and it is my second Marathon World Series. But it is my first time in China and in Qiandao Lake. I feel pretty good. I just started to swim two, three weeks ago after the European Championships and I had a little break. I am not in my good shape but I am happy I finished the third," Paltrinieri said.
Olympic champion Ferry Weertman said it was pretty hot during the race but it is good practice for the coming race. "I am happy to be here again to compete in the World Series. The fourth place was really good and I did not have the energy to finish strong at last. I am happy I keep the top position on the overall rankings," said the No. 1 on men's rankings.
In the women's competition, Xin Xin brought China a gold medal with a time of 2:06:22.6, ahead of Leonie Antonia Beck of Germany 2:06:23.4 and Ana Barcela De Jesus of Brazil 2:06:23.5. Rio Olympic champion Sharon Vanrouwendal of the Netherlands, came fourth 2:06:24.9.
"I was excited to win the race because most of the best open water swimmers competed in this leg. I wanted to gain more experience from the strong rivals and competition," said Xin, who just claimed victory in the Lac Megantic leg in Canada.
A total of 75 swimmers from 14 countries and regions competed in the 7th leg of the Marathon Swim World Series while 5 swimmers withdrew mid-way due to sickness.
Chun'an is the seventh leg out of eight of Marathon World Series as the last stop will come to Abu Dhabi on Nov. 9.
