Mrs. Alina Valli (ITA) and Mr. Luca Baldini (ITA) each won their events decisively in the first event of the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. A third-place finish by Mr. Marco Formentini (ITA) capped a nearly perfect day in the very hot conditions in Hakata Bay. 

The 29-year-old Mrs. Valli avenged her third-place finish at the 5km Open Water World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii by finishing 26 seconds ahead of Peggy Busche (GER), the winner of the 5km event last November. She said "I felt like I made a couple of mistakes, but it was a competiton against myself, and I was sure that I could win when I reached the first 300m," Australian Hayley Lewis (AUS) was a mere three seconds behind Busche as she captured the bronze medal. Lewis is scheduled to compete in the women's 1500 metre freestyle event at the Marine Messe pool on July 27. Busche explained: "Although I couldn't win two successive titles-Honolulu and here-I was satisfied with my silver medal." 

The two Italian men grew up on the Mediterranean shores near Genoa and spent most of their lives in the sea. They train for open water swimming almost exclusively, which perhaps explains their success. Baldini's time of 55:37 was nearly a minute faster than that of the silver medalist Evgueni Bezroutchenko (RUS). Baldini, like Viola, also placed third in Honolulu and earned the gold medal in today's 5km competition. After the race Baldini told reporters: "I didn't have a plan, but at the first bouy I tried to make a gap between me and the other swimmers, and then I just kept going." Bezroutchenko, who was defending his world title won in Hawaii last November, explained his strategy: "I was following the pack until the turning point and then began picking up speed, and I was very pleased with the result of my finish." Italian teammate Formentini told reporters: "I was satisfied with the result, because I am 31 years old and this was my last chance to win a medal." Asked to explain the success of the Italian team, Baldini said: "We have a big heart and we believe in what we do." 
A total of 104 athletes are competing in the open water swimming competition, representing 30 different nations. The 10km event for men and women will make its debut at the FINA World Swimming Championships on Wednesday. On Saturday the 25km event will be contested also starting from Momochihama Beach.