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September 8, 2002 Close finish adds some fireworks to local 10K For The USA eventBy GUY GARGAN For The Press, (609) 272-7210, E-MailATLANTIC CITY - After 6.2 miles of nonstop intensity in the 10K For The USA swim, no more than six inches separated pre-race favorites Petar Stoychev, Christof Wandratsch and Gabriel Chaillou at the finish. The three FINA stars charged relentlessly Saturday, side by side with almost no space between them. Hanging from the rope finish line was a 5-foot banner sign. The first swimmer to touch his hand on the banner sign would be the winner. Stoychev, Wandratsch and Chaillou all lunged at the thin plastic sign at once, and Stoychev, of Bulgaria, was judged the winner with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 59.73 seconds. But almost two more hours went by before it became official. Chaillou, of Argentina, was judged to be in third place but felt he had touched first, and attempted to protest. Head referee Ron Van Pool did not accept Chaillou's protest based on the fact that the three finish judges, plus himself and the men's referee all saw the finish the same way, with Stoychev the winner. The result became official, with the Bulgarian the victor and Wandratsch of Germany the second-place finisher in 2:10:00.11. Chaillou was third in 2:10.00.34. "This race was very hard for the three of us, but I was ready to win," Stoychev, a 25-year-old resident of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, said. "In the last 1,000 meters, I was thinking of how to win the race. The race was very hard. I swam around the island here four times, but this is the first time I've been in this race. The three of us have raced many times and it's usually very close." The race had several leaders, including American Patrick Dideum - who was in first place much of the first three miles. Dideum, of Texas A&M University, finished sixth. Hungary's Levente Nagy-Pa'l also was at the head of the pack at times until the final mile. He stayed close behind and crossed the line only about a length behind the leaders, in fourth place. Stoychev wins $3,000 for first place, while Wandratsch takes home $1,000 for second place and Chaillou wins $500 for third. The women's FINA race, which began 15 minutes after the men's race, was much less complicated thanks to Erica Rose of Cleveland, Ohio. She won by 60 yards in 2:15:28.77. Margy Keefe and Tobie Smith, two other Americans, were second and third, respectively. Rose, 20 can't accept the $3,000 winner's check because she's a junior at Northwestern University. "The course (in Atlantic City and Ventnor) was great," Rose said. "I was with the lead kayak (several kayakers served as course guides) so there was no problem. I wanted to stay with the pack, because I'm not in peak training right now and I wasn't sure how strong I'd be. "I took the lead for good just before the first bridge (the Dorset Avenue Bridge in Ventnor) on the way back." NOTES: Jan Sibberson, the other German in the men's race, is more well known as the competitor who won the opening 2.4-mile swim leg of the famed Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii last October. He finished seventh in the 10K Saturday and said he's using it as training for this year's Iron Man. Linwood's 15-year-old Ross Thomas did well to finish 16th in 2:22:20.35. John Kenny of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol did not compete. In the masters (age group) division, John Gatti of Somerville was first for the men in 2:19.16, and Trish Lane of Lusby, Md., was the women's winner in 2:34.09. To e-mail Guy Gargan at The Press: GGargan @pressofac.com
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