Mexico to host 10K marathon swimming World Cup

The FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup will be held on Saturday in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, with at least nine Mexican swimmers participating, the Mexican Swimming Federation said Friday. Federation head Kiril Todorov told reporters the event in the open water of the Mexican Caribbean gathers competitors from 20 countries for one of seven such meets organized annually by the International Swimming Federation, known by its French initials FINA. Mexico's squad features Lizeth Rueda, world youth bronze medal winner in the 10km open-sea swim, and Melissa Villasenor, who last weekend won the bronze medal in the 15-km FINA Grand Prix. The rest of the squad includes Arturo Perez Vertti, from Mexico's state of Baja California; Zaira Cardenas, Daniel Delgadillo, Montserrat Ortuno and Andrea Perez, all from northern San Luis Potosi state; and Fernando Betanzos and Fernando Sevilla of Quintana Roo. The meet will prepare the swimmers for the upcoming Central American-Mexico (Camex) tournament, the winners of which will advance to the Central American and Caribbean Games. Saturday's elite-level competition will feature 75 swimmers (34 women, 41 men) from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Syria, Switzerland and Ukraine, the United States, as well as Mexico.