AMB congratulates Open water swimmers Edith van Dijk and Maarten van der Weijden

In Seville, Spain there are the Open Water championships from the 3rd until the 8th of May. During this event swimmers can next to becoming World Champion also qualify for the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing, China. The Dutch swimmers Edith van Dijk and Maarten van der Weijden qualified in their races for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Maarten van der Weijden became fourth in his 10 km race and Edith van Dijk became 11th in her 10 km race.

The event took place in the river Guadalquivir in Seville, Spain along a 2.5 km course (two or four laps depending on the event 5 or 10 Km). Competitors swam in anticlockwise direction, keeping the turn buoys off their left shoulder. Water temperature was approximately between 24-25º C. Start & finish was adequately marked in the Rowing-Canoeing High Performance Center. The course was between 3 and 8 meters deep. The dive start was the official start for all events at the 5th FINA World OWS Championships Seville 2008. There was one feeding pontoon for the 10 Km event, located in the center of the course and allowing support staff to feed the swimmers on both sides.

The timing was performed by the company OMEGA Swiss Timing with the Active Sports timing system of AMB. This has lead to accurate and precise results.

For more information about the Open Water Swimming Championships, please visit http://www.sevillaaguasabiertas.org (available in English and Spanish).

Installation of loop above the water:

Transponders on wrists of swimmers:
 

Photos are from the website http://www.sevillaaguasabiertas.org.