Burnell Top Brit in Brazil
28th January 2013
British Gas Loughborough ITC swimmer Jack Burnell was the top British finisher at the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup in Santos, Brazil at the weekend.
The 19-year-old finished in 17th place in 2.02.54, 28 seconds behind the race winner Romain Bernaud of France who won in 2.02.26.
Former European Junior 5km Open Water silver medallist Tom Allen, who trains at the British Gas ITC in Swansea, finished in 23rd place in 2.03.41 with City of Sheffield’s Tom Sunter in 28th place in 2.03.52.
Kingston-upon-Hull’s Rachael Williamson was 31st in the ladies race which was won by Emily Brunemann of the USA in 2.11.18.
Lucy Charles was forced to pull out of the event after sustaining a shoulder injury 2.5km into the race.
Berni Dietzig, Interim Head of Open Water said: "Santos was a great opportunity to race some of the best open water swimmers in the world. As expected, the race was extremely competitive and most of our swimmers finished in the main pack.
“Before our next race in Viedma on Saturday, we are taking each swimmer through a debriefing process, identifying their strengths and weaknesses as observed during the Santos 10km Marathon, taking the race experience into the next event.
“We are going to implement the 'lessons learnt' in Viedma and with an aim to improve each individual's rankings.”
The team will now travel to Viedma in Argentina for the next leg on Saturday 2nd February.
Dan Fogg was forced to withdraw from the trip following illness.
