Italy's Martina Grimaldi won the first swim test event for the 2012 London Olympics yesterday in a 10-kilometer women's race in Hyde Park's Serpentine.

A month after taking silver at the same distance at the world championships in Shanghai, Grimaldi overtook Eva Fabian of the United States down the final stretch to win in 2 hours, 2 minutes, 49.5 seconds.

Fabian led for almost the whole race but finished half a second back in second. Brazil's Poliana Okimoto was third and American swimmer Christine Jennings was fourth amid the greenery of London's largest park.

World champion Spyridon Gianniotis finished third in the subsequent men's race. Canada's Richard Weinberger won, with Germany's Thomas Lurz taking second place.