(Beijing June 1) Czech Rostislav Vitek, who qualified for the Beijing Olympics after taking the bronze of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Marathon Swimming Olympic Men's Qualification, revealed the strong wind today had little influence on his performance and he pretty much liked swimming in the waves.

"My tactic was to catch up in the last 500 meters. It's very easy for me and finally I made it," said the world No.22, who clocked 1:59:35.5 to win the third place of the event as well as a ticket to the 2008 Olympics.

Commenting on the strong wind unfavorable for open water swimming, he noted, "The wind was strong today, but it had little influence on me. The stormy waves could boost my fighting spirit and I like swimming in the sea."

The gold of the event went to world No.18 Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria and Hangarian Csaba Gercsak took the silver. Despite finishing 12th in the race, Spaniard Diego Nogueira got an Olympic berth thanks to the FINA's rules on national quota.