Doha, Qatar, February 7, 2024: Although the race for gold, silver and bronze is intense and unrelenting in open water swimming, there is a lot more going on further down the field, too, as swimmers jostle for position out of the spotlight.
Away from the leading group, several other mini-races emerge during the course of the main event; as was the case in the women’s 5km open water at Doha Old Port on Wednesday morning.
The sun was shining brightly, the sea was sparkling blue and the city sky line was shimmering in the distance – but there was one element not in favour of the 62-strong starting line-up: a stiff breeze that sent waves scudding across the Gulf.
The swimmers faced three laps of the 1.670 km circuit in a race distance which the commentators likened to open water’s version of the 800 metres in the pool.
Somewhere in there, amongst the maelstrom of swimmers, boats and race officials, was 23-year-old Nikita Lam Pac Tung of Hong Kong, China.
This was her third World Aquatics Championships, and her second race of Doha 2024 after a disappointing 50th place finish in the 10km race in 2 hours, 8 seconds.
“I think I really did my best because, in the past, I am not brave enough to be in the front,” she said of her performance on Wednesday.
“Even though I am separated from the first group, I was the lead of my group. In the past I won’t break the rhythm and lead the group but today I tried my best, although at the last everyone behind me sprint. That is my weakness; I can’t sprint. My sprinting is not that good but I really did my best.”
As a result, Nikita finished 43rd in 1 hour, 01.25 seconds; Park Jung-ju of Korea won this particular mini-race in 39th in a time of 1:01.18 – seven seconds ahead of Nikita, but worth four places on the finish list.
Nikita said she always focused on her own performance on each particular race day, and not on her personal best time, as the conditions, waves and weather were always different.
Although she trains in the sea in Hong Kong in the build-up to international races, the lack of big waves back home hindered her performance on this particular day.
“When we swim against the waves, I haven’t got enough power to go really fast, but, when we came back, I felt we are going really fast and it felt really good,” she commented on conditions in the 5km event.
Nikita said she concentrated on open water swimming rather than in the pool because her coach advised her that she was not tall enough or strong enough to compete in the pool, and she needed more power.
This power point was highlighted in the main race for the medals. Sharon Van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands won gold in 57:33.90; Chelsea Gubecka of Australia was second in 57:35.00 and Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil took bronze 57:36.80.
