SEVILLE, Spain - Ksenia Popova won the women's 25-kilometre gold and Maarten Van Der Weijden won the men's race to conclude the open water swimming championships on Thursday.
Popova clocked five hours, 27 minutes, 48.2 seconds to increase Russia's domination of the championships, which were held on the River Guadalquivir. Russia has won four of the six gold medals.
Popova, who won the bronze in last year's world swimming championships in Melbourne, Australia, beat silver medallist Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands by 2.1 seconds. The bronze was won by another Russian, Natalya Pankina, who trailed her compatriot by 5.7 seconds.
Patricia Perreault of Quebec City was 16th.
Van Der Weijden, a Dutchman who won the bronze in the 5K event on Tuesday, finished in 5:04:1.1 to hold off Mark Warkentin of the United States by 0.5 seconds.
The bronze medal went to Russia's Yuriy Koudinov, who was 1.3 seconds behind Van Der Weijden.
Simon Tobin of Ste-Foy, Que., placed 16th.
''I swam below my expectations," said Tobin, 23. ''My first three laps (five kilometres each) were very strong but at the 15 kilometre mark I started to lose energy. I couldn't follow the pack anymore."
Canada didn't win a medal at the five-day event with Jarrod Ballem of Calgary posting the best finish, a 10th in the five kilometre. The main race was the men's and women's 10 kilometre which was an Olympic qualifier. No Canadians qualified but there'll be a second qualifying event at the end of the month in Beijing.
The open-water event, often called a "wrestling match in water" because of aggressive tactics, will make its debut in the Beijing Olympics, but only in the 10K distance.
Unlike indoor swimming, open water championships are held every year.
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