BIRCHER BAGS 10K BRONZE IN SPAIN
World Championship silver medallist Alan Bircher bagged a
bronze at his first open water meet since he took Britain's
first ever medal at the Worlds last November.
The 23-year-old University of Bath swimmer made the podium
in the 10k LEN Long Distance Cup in Seville, Spain, after
a tight finish that saw the top four swimmers finish within
10 seconds of each other.
Italians Fabio Venturini and Simone Ercoli took gold and
silver in 1:52.40minutes and 1:52.45 minutes respectively.
Bircher's time of 1:52.49 was enough to secure him bronze
ahead of Spaniard Francisco Jose Hervas who finished in 1:52.50
minutes.
"It wasn't too bad," he admitted. "I did a
lot of leading and I tried to break away about three or four
times, but I think I swam the speed out of myself. The water
was about 28 degrees in Spain, which I'm not used to and it
can dehydrate you."
Bircher has had a long break since winning that historical
silver in Dubai:
"I injured my foot after the Worlds last year and so
I've had quite a bit of time off over the winter and I'm just
getting back into it.
"I've been training in Germany for the last six weeks
and swum more than 100k in the last three weeks, so I'm getting
there but need to work on my breakaway speed.
"There's less than seven weeks until the World Championships
in Canada and that's the big one for me this year, so I'm
concentrating on getting my performance right for Montreal."
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