Portugal’s Tiago Campos placed 20th today in the 10 km open water final of the World Swimming Championships taking place in Fukuoka, Japan, while Diogo Cardoso was 23rd in the final.
Tiago Campos completed the course in 1:54.05,50 hours, 3.25,20 minutes more than the winner, German Florian Wellbrock, who won with a time of 1:50.40,30 hours, while Diogo Cardoso spent 3.28,40 more (1:54.08,70).
“My race went pretty well. I wanted more, but 20th place equals my best performance at the World Championships. I think I had a very consistent race, very positive in a competition with a lot of physical contact on the buoys and continuous swimming. Now I will continue to work to be very strong at the World Championships in Qatar and achieve my second participation in the Olympic Games”, said Tiago Campos, quoted by the press office of the Portuguese Swimming Federation.
Diogo Cardoso was also satisfied with the way his race went: “From the beginning I managed to put myself more or less in front, in the top 40. On the second lap, I started to move up a few positions and reach the top 20/30. I think that part went well. From the fourth lap, the pace became unbearable, but I still managed to hold on and stay in the second group of 15/16 athletes. I still had the strength to make a good final push. I achieved my goal”.
The National Technical Director, Daniel Viegas, highlighted the men’s performance in this race, which he classified as a higher level than in Budapest2022: “Tiago Campos confirmed last year’s 20th and Diogo Cardoso improved his 27th place in Budapest. The race was increasing the pace and the initial group of about 40 swimmers was reducing. In the third lap, the expected start of the favorites took place and then two groups were formed: one of 18 swimmers and another of 15 more. The Portuguese were in front of the second group”.
“We consider it a very good result, because at the next World Championships in Doha2024, they could qualify for the Paris2024 Games. Both are close to the Olympic qualification, which is 22 places”, he stressed.
Regarding the women’s performance in the 10 km, in a race held on Saturday and in which Angélica André was 15th and Mafalda Rosa 17th, Daniel Viegas pointed out that if the qualification was in this World Cup, the two would be qualified.
The head coach now turns his attention to the 5km race, which will take place next Tuesday: “Now we’re going to rest, because we also want to do well in the 5km on the 18th”.
The World Championships in water sports began on Friday and run until the 30th in Fukuoka, Japan, bringing together the pure, artistic, open water, water jump and water polo competitions.
