‘Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.’ However there is plenty of the life sustaining liquid for the outstanding athletes of The World Games to showcase their extraordinary skills, stamina and speed.
The 12th edition of the prestigious multi sport event taking place in the Chinese city of Chengdu is the wettest one yet! Not because of the occasional rain shower in Sichuan province which helps to cool the athletes and fans enduring the sweltering heat! It is that the number of water based sports chosen for this edition is a record for The World Games.
With the ball sport competitions yet to fully catch alight, the most outstanding moments of the first days of proper competition in Chengdu have occurred in the arenas hosting the martial arts (Wushu and Karate) and in the water. An incredible opening day in the Lifesaving pool saw 4 World Records and the sport’s biggest names asserting their dominance. Lifesaving is primarily a humanitarian action to help rescue distressed people in water, but is also a fantastic spectator sport. It is not just a swimming race; athletes have to demonstrate how they would locate a mannikin at the bottom of the pool, bring it up to the surface and then swim one handed to the finish line.
Imagine breaking a World Record and you still can not find your way into the top three stories of the competition! Polish swimmer Kacper Majchzrak is making his debut at The World Games; if there were any nerves it did not show as he dominated the race. This was the second race of the session and as it unfolded it was clear despite his amazing achievement that it would not be the headline maker. Italian Lucrezia Fabretti had occupied the bottom step of the podium twice in Birmingham. She upgraded both of those medals to the most desirable colour in Chengdu. Her compatriot Francesco Ippolito, visiting the City of the Pandas for the second time after his appearance in The World Games Series, is a human metal detector and magnet. Six of the bright shiny objects attached themselves to his neck during the Alabama edition,five of which were silver. Three more followed on day one of the competition, including gold in the Super saver 200m.
Then there was German Nina Holt doing things that only Nina Holt can do. Her debut in 2022 saw her race perfectly four times out of four.The first half of the two day Lifesaving competition saw Holt extend that streak to six out of six, both in World record times! An absolutely extraordinary athlete, who is unquestionably, one of the greatest ever seen at The World Games.
German dominance in the water also extends to the sport of Canoe Polo. The post is similar to either water polo, except that the goal nets are hung high above the goalkeeper. There are fast collisions at the start of play when one player from each side charges towards the half way line to try and win the ball. Shots are hopefully blocked by placing the paddle above the head. The 2009 edition of The World Games was unique for Canoe Polo. The German Men’s team’s failure to bring back any silverware was the only occasion that any team from that nation did not contest the gold medal match!
Just to prove the versatility of the German athletes on water, Julia Rick is expected to prosper in the Wakeboard events. Normally The World Games includes both disciplines of Waterski and Wakeboard. However there has been a makeover of the disciplines for Chengdu. The very entertaining sport of Waterski has been rested for this edition, with the focus exclusively on the Wakeboard side of the sport. Doing gymnastics moves is hard, doing gymnastics moves attached to a tow rope is even harder. However just imagine that the other end of the rope is attached to a fast, moving speed boat. The flips, and turns generated from the large wake of the boat are extremely spectacular. However for Chengdu, the speedboat has been replaced by a moving landside cable.
The remaining water sports test the stamina of the athletes. Canoe Marathon is as its name suggests a long distance race involving canoes. However there is a twist, at various points along the course, there is a pontoon. The competitors paddle alongside the pontoon, jump out, carry the canoe in one hand whilst running to the reentry point then resuming their paddling. Swede Melina Andersson used this transition to good effect using bursts of speed twice on the pontoon to retake the race lead and leave two time champion of The World Games trailing in her wake. Dane Mads Pedersen spared himself in qualifying, finishing fifth, but when it mattered he added to his toe metallic souvenir from Birmingham 2022.