Open water swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 25 km
The Women's 25 km Open Water event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships was held on July 21, 2001 in Fukuoka.
Viola Valli (ITA) winner of the 5 km and Edith van Dijk (NED) were both favourites. They both looked more confident from the very first buoy. Valli was 2 minutes behind at 8 km. Van Dijk was in the lead for half the distance, but after rounding the buoy at 12.5 km, Valli took the lead and the Dutch swimmer was unable to keep up with her.
"I won! It's wonderful to win two golds here," Valli said. "Even though I was behind at 8 km, I was confident I would catch-up."
"I felt good," van Dijk said. "I was working hard to win, I was well ahead of the others for a while, but Valli was really fast. I kept up with her on the return leg but she moved ahead in the last 6.5 km. Anyway I’m happy with the silver."
Bronze medalist Angela Maurer (GER) was happy because she did not expect any medal at all.
The Russians expected to easily win the team gold. They anticipated Olga Guseva to at least be among the top five and Natalya Pankina among the top ten. Guseva dropped out of the race after reaching 18 km, but Pankina managed a fifth. It was just enough. The team gold went to Russia by only two points over Italy. The Italians had bad luck with the disqualification of Pampana in the 10 km.
Results edit
| Rank | Swimmer | Nationality | 12.5 km | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Viola Valli |  Italy |
2:58:47 | 5:56:51 |
 |
Edith van Dijk |  Netherlands |
2:58:45 | 6:00:36 |
 |
Angela Maurer |  Germany |
2:58:46 | 6:06:19 |
| 4 | Britta Kamrau | Germany |
2:58:49 | 6:08:46 |
| 5 | Natalya Pankina |  Russia |
3:02:21 | 6:14:26 |
| 6 | Briley Bergen |  USA |
3:03:24 | 6:20:07 |
| 7 | Alessandra Romiti | Italy |
3:04:23 | 6:35:14 |
| 8 | Yvetta Hlaváčová |  Czech Republic |
3:13:45 | 6:36:22 |
| 9 | Shelley Clark |  Australia |
3:09:00 | 6:41:16 |
| 10 | Tiffany Sawin | USA |
3:14:22 | 6:44:12 |
| 11 | Yuki Fukuda |  Japan |
3:15:56 | 7:07:22 |
| -- | Olga Guseva | Russia |
3:01:13 | DNF |
| -- | Eszter Balázs |  Hungary |
3:27:15 | DNF |
| -- | Audrey Boitte |  France |
DNF | DNF |
Key: DNF = Did not finish, DQ = Disqualified