Greece’s Spiros Gianniotis has won the 10km Open Water race in the World Championships in Barcelona this week. Gianniotis clocked 1 hour, 49 minutes, 11.8 seconds in the waters of Barcelona’s harbor. Five-time world champion Thomas Lurz of Germany finished second, 2.7 seconds behind, and Mellouli was third, 7.4 back, while Australia’s Rhys Mainstone came in 12th.
Gianniotis also helped the Greek rally team come second in their open water challenge.
22-year-old Greek Kelly Araouzo came 4th in the 5km and 10km womens’ Open water race giving an admirable performance alongside some of the worlds greatest open water athletes, including Australian Melissa Gorman who came 20th.
Overall Greece came 6th and tied with the US in the Championships. China won the competition, with Russia and Brazil coming second and third respectively.
Teenage championship this weekend
17-year-old Greek Vaggelis Tsirapidis will also be seeking gold in the open water competition as he takes up a place in the Teenage European Championships this weekend at Kotsaeli.
Vaggelis had competed in the BHP Billiton competitions in Perth in January and achieved 3rd place. He came on his own without any support from the Greek National team and with funded the whole trip himself.
