Paris 2024: Daniel Wiffen 18th as Kristof Rasovszky wins 10km marathon in the Seine
World champion Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary has taken gold in the men's 10km marathon swim in the Seine, with Ireland's Daniel Wiffen finishing 18th.
Rasovszky, known as the 'The Balaton Shark', was joined by 28 rivals who set out from the Pont-Alexandre III bridge in central Paris for this open-water event.
A silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, Rasovszky, along with Germany's defending champion Florian Wellbrock and Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri dictated affairs at the front for most of the race.
Rasovszky was never worse than third at any point in the race and assumed a lead he would never relinquish during the fourth of the six laps in the event.
Wiffen, taking part in the event for the first time, was soon detached from from the leading group. He was 14th at the halfway point and eventually came home in a time of 1:57:20.1.
While Rasovsky maintained his lead, Oliver Klemet came with a late surge but could not catch the Hungarian, who won in 1:50:52.7. Kelmet's clocked 1:50:54.8, with Rasovsky's compatriot David Betlehem third in 1:51:09.0.
Wellbrock faded in the latter stages of the race, eventually finishing in eighth.
Four swimmers failed to finish the punishing race, while Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi and Sweden's Victor Johansson did not not, with the latter citing concerns about the water quality.