16-07-2025
'One of the hardest courses I've ever swum': Competitors feel Sentosa heat at World Aquatics Championships
SINGAPORE: The water quality off the Sentosa coast has been under the microscope in recent days, but it was factors such as the afternoon heat which proved brutal for competitors in the men's 10km open water race on Wednesday (Jul 16) in the World Aquatics Championships.
The race was won by Germany's Florian Wellbrock, while Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri took silver and Australia's Kyle Lee clinched the bronze after seeing off Germany's Oliver Klemet.
A total of 11 competitors did not finish the race including Singapore's Ritchie Oh, three did not start, and five recorded times that were over the allocated time limit.
In comparison, the last world championships in Doha had one competitor who did not finish and one with a time over the allocated time limit.
According to World Aquatics regulations, the water temperature in an open water swimming competitions should be a minimum of 16 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 31 degrees Celsius.
In response to queries from CNA, organisers said that the official water temperature reading for the men's race was 30.4 degrees Celsius.
"To be honest, it was tough today," said Wellbrock, who was the 2020 Olympic champion in the event. This is his third open water world title after wins in 2019 and 2023.
"I think it was the warmest water ever that we've had to race in. But we had like one year to prepare for this, we did a lot of heat training and I think this was the key for today to take the gold."
Hungary's Kristof Rasovszky, who was the reigning champion and 2024 Olympics champion in the event, described it as one of the "hardest" races he's competed in given factors such as the heat and the choppy conditions.
"It's a really challenging experience but it was all the same for everyone. So you can't really say that this was the problem because everyone had to swim in the same conditions," said Rasovszky, who said he once competed in similarly warm conditions during the 2019 Beach Games in Doha.
"This is open water, so you have to prepare for everything, for the warm and for the cold."
Singapore's Artyom Lukasevits said that the difficulty of the course was down to a number of factors. He finished 43rd, making him the best-placed Southeast Asian competitor.
"It was not just the heat, it was a combination of other stuff. It's a pretty choppy course ... and it's also a big race," said the 20-year-old.
"It's one of the hottest, if not the hottest ever. And everybody's just kind of fighting for their life, so it's really difficult."
DEALING WITH POSTPONEMENTS
On Tuesday, the women's 10km race was postponed just hours before it was set to begin, with organisers saying that the water quality levels did not meet "acceptable thresholds" as a result of an analysis of samples taken last Sunday.
The race, originally slated for 8am on Tuesday, was initially pushed back to Wednesday morning.
World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki said later on Tuesday afternoon that elevated levels of the E. coli bacteria were responsible for the race postponement. He added that the source of the contamination had yet to be determined.
E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of humans and animals. Common symptoms of ingesting a pathogenic strain of E. coli include vomiting and diarrhoea.
Later on Tuesday, World Aquatics said that water quality results had "improved", but further tests showed that levels still exceeded "acceptable thresholds" after testing conducted earlier in the day.
This meant that the men's 10km race and the women's 10km race, which were scheduled for 7.30am and 10.15am on Wednesday, were postponed to 1pm and 4pm on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, the events were given the green light by World Aquatics after water quality results showed "significant improvement".
In a press release, the sport's governing body said that the results from three samples taken along the competition course at 5pm on Tuesday showed the levels of E. coli bacteria falling between the ranges of "good" and "excellent" according to World Aquatics and the World Health Organization (WHO) regulations.
"Regular water quality monitoring and testing continues throughout the competition period to ensure athlete safety, with the health and safety of all participants continuing to guide all competition-related decisions," said World Aquatics.
The changes had a knock-on effect on preparations but are part and parcel of racing, said Rasovszky.
"We didn't know in the morning when we woke up if there's going to be a race or not ... And then we had to wait till the later morning (to know) if we're going to race in the later afternoon," he added.
"It's not an easy thing, and it's not really good for the preparation like a day before the race. But this is how it works in the open water."
"The only thing was the disrupted sleep but that's about it," added Lukasevits. "We have to expect unexpected things to happen, it's part of the sport."
At last year's Paris Olympics, pollution in the Seine after heavy rains caused the men's triathlon race to be postponed for a day, after swimming practice sessions were cancelled two days in a row.
"We didn't really feel anything from it (the water quality). We will see two days later if someone is out of the race because of some sickness or not ... But I believe in the organising committee, and in World Aquatics that they try to do their best," said Rasovszky.
Speaking to CNA, Indonesia's Aflah Prawira said he supported the decision to postpone the race, despite the tough conditions brought about by competing under the afternoon sun.
He said he had raced in similar temperature conditions back in Papua, but in waters which were less choppy.
"It's one of the hardest courses I've ever swum. It's the weather - the heat from the outside, the choppy water ... very difficult race also because we started in the afternoon," he explained.
