Thomas Lurz earns top spot in Men’s overall ranking: 2011 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup – Part 5
Thomas Lurz’s scintillating effort in the second last stage of the 2011 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup was an example of his dominance in the Open Water discipline. After a continued series of challenges, Lurz turned towards his final race of the World
Cup, which was scheduled on October 2, in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong.
The German stood at the top of the overall world rankings with a total of 94 points. He was followed by his team-member, Christian Reichert, who stood second after securing 64 points. Finally, the time came when all open water athletes gathered around Repulse
Bay to swim their last race of the season. Lurz, who captured his second gold medal of the series just seven days earlier, looked strong and confident.
Lurz commenced the race with a strong start while his team-mate, Reichert, kept following his lead towards the finishing line. The team-members engaged each other in a stiff battle, where both of them presented their wonderful efforts as they kept trying
to escape each other for the gold finish. Lurz saved his stamina for the final part of the race, but the same strategy was implied by his strongest rival, Reichert, who was just half a body length away from him.
With his magnificent skills and sensational endurance, Lurz managed to edge out his challenger on the finishing line, posting a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 16.70 seconds. He was just 0.20 seconds faster than Reichert, who reached the victory stand for
silver medal, posting a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 16.90 seconds.
In the meantime, the crowd was surprised by the breathtaking effort of South African swimmer, Chad Ho, who remained just a half second away from his former finisher and ended third. Ho elevated himself to the third spot of the swim, producing a time of 1
hour, 58 minutes and 17.40 seconds.
With his commendable effort, he overwhelmed the effort of Chinese swimmer, Zhang Zi Bin, who remained 0.75 seconds slower than Ho and settled as the fourth finisher with a timing of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 18.15 seconds.
Lurz was in high spirits after attaining his third gold medal of the series, while this victory mounted his score to a total of 11 points. He was 32 points ahead of Reichert, who secured second spot on the overall rankings by accomplishing a score of 82
points.
Third position was obtained by their team-member, Andreas Waschburger, who achieved 46 points as a result of his participation at the World Cup Series. Michael Dmitriev of Israel was ranked fourth on the overall points tally because he obtained 24 points.
Lurz was contented with his third gold claiming effort in the World Cup season while the German received huge round of applause from audience at the medal ceremony. He also said that he is preparing hard for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics and has the
desire of securing a gold finish at the Games.
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