Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands was the surprise winner of the men’s 10km open water title at the European Swimming Championships in Berlin on Thursday.
Weertman, 22, beat 34-year-old German distance specialist Thomas Lurz, who has 12 world titles in open water events to his name, into second place.
The Dutchman won what is the only open water event to feature in the Olympic Games, in 1hr 49min 56.2sec, with Lurz second in 1:49:59.0 and Russia’s Yevgeny Drattsev third in 1:50:00.6.
For the second day in a row, Lurz failed to win an open water title, having finished third in the 5km event on Wednesday behind Britain’s Daniel Fogg, who won in 53min 41.4sec, with Germany’s Rob Muffels second in 54:01.8 and Lurz taking bronze in 54:02.6.
Germany’s Isabelle Harle won the women’s 5km open water race, a non-Olympic event, raced against the clock.
Harle won in 57min 55.7sec, with 10km champion Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands second in 58:29.9 and Spain’s Olympic 800m silver medallist Mireia Belmonte, third in 58:41.4.