ekansekans's blog: "df"

Paddling through the longest race of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Canadas Richard Weinberger captured bronze in Londons Serpentine Lake on Friday morning. His 10-kilometre open water marathon swim of one hour, 50 minutes and 0.30 seconds earned Canada its third swimming medal of these Games. Weinberger, of Victoria, B.C., got off to an early lead in Londons chilly, 21-Celsius water on Friday; he tore off his swimming cap within his first few strokes and quickly worked his way to the front of the thrashing pack. an extremely physical race, thats why I avoided being in the pack and I tried to be on the outside or up the front with (gold-medal winner Oussama) Mellouli," Weinberger said. "I tried to swim a smart race and things turned out in my favour." Open water swimming can get physical, as its lack of lanes allows the swimmers to draft through the water in a very tight pack; while race officials watch to ensure that things do not get out of hand, an errant elbow or foot occasionally connects. Canadas entry dropped to fourth at the mid-point of Fridays race but stayed close to the leaders and conserved his energy for the remainder of the gruelling swim. Meanwhile, Tunisias Oussama Mellouli jumped into the lead and surged ahead for gold. With the win, he became the first swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the marathon as well as in the pool; the Tunisian also took bronze in the mens 1500m freestyle six days ago when he finished his race just 0.68 seconds behind silver medallist Ryan Cochrane, of Canada. In the marathon event, Melloulis 1:49.55.10 pace proved too much for his competitors to catch. "I was worried that the other guys would pass me when Mellouli got away. Things were the same as in Portugal at the trials and it is pretty hard to catch him once he got away so I just kept my cool and concentrated." Just under one year after Weinberger won gold in the Olympic test event on the same course, the 22-year-old made his move in the final 3km of the race. He picked up his pace and advanced into a dead heat with Thomas Lurz for second place. Weinberger, one of the youngest swimmers in Fridays race, has said he looks up to Germanys Lurz, 32. "He has been under (one hour and) 15 minutes, and there are only a handful of people that have been under that mark," Weinberger told CTVOlympics.ca earlier this year."I have such great respect for him because he has won so many world championship titles. He is just a great swimmer all around." Lurz is also the bronze-medal winner from the Beijing 2008 Games, and he proved his abilities again on Friday. He bettered his finish from four years ago to capture silver in 1:49:58.50, pushing through the pain in his final metres to complete his race 1.8 seconds ahead of Weinberger at the last. Reigning world champion Spyridon Gianniotis, of Greece, settled for fourth in 1:50:05.30. Weinberger is Canadas first Olympic medallist in the 10km open water swim, as Canada did not send any representatives to the events inaugural Olympic Games in 2008.  Competing in the worlds rivers, lakes and seas, open water athletes often have to contend with waves, jellyfish and even the occasional crocodile in their races. Water temperature can vary, and Hyde Parks chilly temperatures has been a factor for some swimmers in London. In Thursdays womens race, Brazilian swimmer Poliana Okimoto, a seventh-place finisher at Beijing 2008, had to be removed from Londons chilly water after she began to suffer from hypothermia. "A lot of people will have problems with that," Weinberger told CTVOlympics. "Im not saying I wont, but Im Canadian, so I love the cold water." On Thursday, Torontos Zsofia Balazs finished 18th in the womens race. Authentic Griffin III Jersey . While F1 fans are enjoying the drama and suspense of not knowing whats likely to happen next, the top drivers are scratching their heads as they try to figure out how to pull away from their main rivals. RG3 Elite Jersey . -- Darren Mattocks scored in the 43rd minute to lift the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/new.html . The 7-foot Curry was waived Wednesday by San Antonio after averaging 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 15. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Giants coach Tom Coughlin says he has not ruled out running back Ahmad Bradshaw from Sundays matchup in Atlanta, despite a knee injury. But Bradshaw, injured vs. New Orleans last Sunday, missed practice on Wednesday, and Coughlin kept open the possibility that rookie backup David Wilson could start against the Falcons (11-2). "Im not going to talk about the percentages or anything like that," Coughlin said about Bradshaws chances. "You can speculate knowing what the injury is. The other day when he had the injury, he taped it up and went back in and made three short-yardage runs in a row for a key first down.ddddddddddddNo one really knew what was going on there. He told me he had no limitations. "Hes a tough son of a gun." Bradshaw spent the portion of practice open to the media getting treatment in the locker room. If he is unable to play Sunday, Wilson would start for the Giants (8-5), with Ryan Torain and Kregg Lumpkin also seeing some snaps. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (back), receiver Hakeem Nicks (knee), linebacker Michael Boley (back), cornerback Prince Amukamara (hamstring) and safety Kenny Phillips (knee) also missed practice. ' ' '