Namibia’s marathon swimmer Phillip Seidler on Wednesday night finished 16th in his Olympic debut out of a lineup of 26 swimmers in the men’s 10km Open Water race in Tokyo.

The 23-year-old swimmer finished in a time of 1:53:14.1, which was 4:40.4 minutes behind winner Wellbrock Florian from Germany. Hungary’s Rasovszky Kristof came second with a time of 1:48:59.0, while Paltrinieri Gregori of Italy ended third with a time of 1:49:01.1.

It is the longest swimming race and a test of endurance for up to two hours. 

Winners need to possess physical strength, brain power and the ability to remain unfazed by a race that stretches over a daunting 10km. The ability to combine determination, technique and strength to compete for the honour of being the best in the world — that is the essence of marathon swimming.

The Swakopmund native, who is coached by his mother Nadia Seidler, afterwards received great praise from fans saying he did impressively well and according to that performance, good things are ahead for him at the next Olympics scheduled for Paris, Frane in 2024.

Blessings commented, saying: “Congratulations Seidler, you have done your best. Keep on; Rome was not built overnight. You have represented us all.”

Brendon Beukes wrote: “Well done, open water swimming is a daunting task.”

Andrew Wiseman Kashungu wrote: “Some of us can›t even do 1km swim, congratulations brother, very commendable performance. Namibia is proud of you.”

 Chris Be wrote: “Congrats are in order. The world should know that Namibia got talent. Medal or without a medal, to some of us you are a champ. Keep it up young man.”

On his part, Seidler thanked everyone for their support, saying: “Thank you to each and every Namibian who supported me and showed me love! I love all of you Namibians. We are the land of the brave!”

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na