It was a Dutchman, Maarten van der Weijden, that finished first for the Gold Medal on Thursday in the first ever 10k swimming marathon, despite Great Britain’s David Davies leading for most of the race. Davies and Bronze Medalist, Thomas Lurz of Germany both drifted to the outside at the finish, allowing van der Weijden to win the race.
Van der Weijden’s victory is even more surprising since he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001 and struggled with it through 2003, before being regaining his health and returning to swimming.

Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko won the women’s 10km swimming marathon in the event’s Olympic debut. She finished the race in 1hr 59:27.7. Great Britain’s Keri-Anne Payne took the Silver Medal and her countryman, Cassandra Patten took the Bronze Medal.
Natalie du Toit of South Africa, the only woman to qualify for both the Olympics and the Paralympics, finished 16th. du Toit, who lost her left leg in a motor scooter accident swam without her prosthetic leg.