Keri-Anne Payne of Britain pushed a few competitors out of her way en route to the gold medal in the 10km open water swimming race at the world championships Wednesday. Olympic champion Larisa Ilchenko withdrew at the halfway mark with an injury. Back at the Foro Italico, Spain performed a rockin' routine to Led Zeppelin and finally claimed gold in synchronized swimming, winning the free combination with Russia absent. German star Thomas Lurz also completed a golden double as he added the 10km title to the 5km crown he won on Tuesday. Andrew Gemmell of the US was second and his compatriot Francis Crippen finished third, although his bronze medal is in doubt as he did not enter the final straight through the gate. Officials said a decision on whether Crippen would be disqualified and the final podium place awarded to fourth-placed Valerio Cleri of Italy would be announced later. Payne, the Olympic silver medalist, clocked 2 hours, 1 minute, 37.1 seconds in the sea off Rome's ancient port of Ostia. She was in the front for most of the race. “There were a lot of girls that tried to take that lead spot, but I was having none of it,” Payne said. “I think I may have pushed a few girls out of the way.” Ekaterina Seliverstova of Russia edged Martina Grimaldi of Italy in a sprint finish for the silver medal. Silverstova finished 0.9 seconds behind and Grimaldi was 1.5 back. “I tried to fight for the silver but I was exhausted at the end,” Grimaldi said. Ilchenko, who was also the defending world champion in 10K, was brought ashore in a jet ski shortly after the 1-hour mark. Upon reaching the beach, the limping swimmer was accompanied by medical officials. The Russian had cited the left-leg problem after winning the silver medal in Tuesday's 5K race, won by Melissa Gorman of Australia. Gorman finished 29th Wednesday. Payne's gold came less than 24 hours after British diver Tom Daley won the 10-meter platform event, raising the host country's expectations for the 2012 London Olympics. “There's always going to be pressure on me for London. But a lot can happen between now and then,” Payne said. The South African-born Payne sat out the 5K event to stay fresh. “I knew the girls yesterday had such a hard 5K, so I was also a little more confident that they were going to be a bit more tired,” said Payne, who will also swim the 200 and 400 individual medley events for Britain in the pool next week. The 200 IM heats are scheduled for Sunday. “It's going to be tough to recover,” Payne said. Since Beijing, Payne spent most of her time training for her pool events. “I wasn't really concentrating on open water this year,” she said, adding that it only became a priority when the British team looked at its funding allocation and realized her best shot at a medal was in open water. “So then about three-fourths of the way through the season I had to start thinking about freestyle,” Payne said. The race was held in almost ideal conditions, with the sea fairly calm and the skies clear. Open water concludes Saturday with the men's and women's 25K marathon races. In synchro, the Spaniards put together a high-energy routine that received scores ranging from 9.7 to 9.9 for a total of 98.333 points. China took the silver with 97.667 and Canada claimed bronze with 96.167. The Spaniards fired the crowd up by performing to “Stairway to Heaven,” even breaking out a little air guitar on another sweltering day in the Italian capital. Spain had settled for silver in the first three events of synchronized swimming, each time behind Russia.
