GWANGJU, Korea, Republic Of — Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary won the men’s 5-kilometre open water event Saturday to claim the first medal of the world swimming championships, while Canada’s Eric Hedlin grabbed the bronze.
Rasovszky finished in a time of 53 minutes, 22:10 seconds. The 22-year-old 2016 Rio Olympian won the 5- and 25-kilometre open water events at the 2018 European aquatic championships.
Logan Fontaine of France took silver Saturday, 10.10 seconds behind, and Hedlin was third, two-tenths of a second behind Fontaine.
The 26-year-old from Victoria also took silver in the event in 2013.
"I’m so happy, it’s been six years but I’m back," said Hedlin.
"There was a lot of elbows and everything but I went out there and my goal was to be toward the front where the density was lower so I could worry about fighting less and also have a great view of where everyone was going. Once I got up there I was just all about trying to relax and stay calm."
Saturday’s race, which began two hours early due to the threat of later heavy rain, was the first of seven open-water events at the world championships. They are all qualifiers for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Other open water races include a 5-kilometre team relay on Thursday and men’s and women’s races over 25 kilometres next Friday.
On Sunday, the women’s 10-kilometre race is scheduled.
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