XII Internation Finswimming Open in Ordizia

The last International Finswimming Open of Ordizia was held on March 3, 2012. 150 best finswimmers of the moment from 20 teams coming from Algeria, Korea, France, Italy and the host country, Spain provided a great show at the pool of Majori sport center in Ordizia.

For the second time in the history of the championship, Stefano Figini won the "txapela" with 991 points, by a fantastic 1'22 "33 in the 200 surface. As the former world record holder, Andrea Nava wanted to surprise his opponents by doing a brilliant first 100 metres, the racers created the most spectacular heat of the Open. The current record holder did not overtake Nava until the last 15 meters in an exhausting final.

Among boys Andrea Rampazzo, record holder in the distance and World and Europe Champion, arrived second place with 975 points in the 50 bifin. The third swimmer in the standings was Andrea Nava due to the great time he got on the 50 meters surface, 16 "51.

Among girls the winner, for the second consecutive year, was Camille Heitz. She got a total of 1004 points by beating Galija Sattarova's Open record made in 2006 and leaving it in an incredible 18"94. The second arrival was the Balearic Cristina Lopez who had been very close to break the record in the 800m surface and scored 994 points. Finally, the third racer was the also French Lea Pascualotti with 962 points scored in the 200m surface.

Points are given according to a formula comparing the time obtained with the record of the Open. The winner is that swimmer, who gets the highest score in one of contest he/she participates. This year, strangely only one of the Open records was beaten, considering the participation four World Champions and one of the best Asian finswimmers of the moment. The explanation could be found in the fact that the organization has achieved over the various editions an extremely high sport, ensuring that the winner is the highest level swimmer.

This year, the organization decided to honor the coaches of Igarondo Urpekoak and Ordizia K.E. Urpekoak. Jon Espina and Gorka Merino have been the souls of Finswimming over the last 20 years in Euskadi. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible to understand the Finswimming in Euskadi and certainly any edition of the Open could be held.

As every year, the atmosphere was extraordinary in the pool. The stands were full throughout the whole day and the festive atmosphere lasted until night. The organization is very pleased with both the entertaining and the sport level of this edition