High waves and heavy surf of the Mediterranean Sea made for a tough day for Germany's Angela Maurer, but in the end, she climbed out of the water a world champion, having swam the 25 kilometer course in 5 hours, 47 minutes and 48 seconds.

"That was the hardest 25 kilometers, I ever swam," said Maurer.

The outcome of the race came down to a sprint in the last 500 meters There was a three way tie between Maurer, Russian swimmer Anna Uvarova and Italy's Federica Vitale. But Maurer had a little something extra and pulled away by a couple of lengths to grab the gold.

The battle then became one for silver, with Russia's Uvarova reaching out her arm and touching the board just ahead of Vitale, who had to settle for bronze.

Perhaps the greatest compliment for Mauerer came from fellow German Thomas Lurz, himself a double gold winner in the 5km and 10km open water races.

"Angela is simply tops," said Lurz. "This is a huge achievement."

In the men's 25 km open water race, Italy's Valerio Cleri nabbed the gold, making up for his loss in the 10k.

av/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Kateri Jochum