Dutchman Weertman wins marathon in photo finish

2016 Rio Olympics - Marathon Swimming - Final - Men's 10km Marathon Swimming Victory Ceremony - Fort Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 16/08/2016. Ferry Weertman (NED) of the Netherlands poses with his gold medal. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

By Mary Milliken

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands won the men's marathon swimming event in a photo finish off Rio's Copacabana Beach on Tuesday.

After covering a distance of 10 km, the 24-year-old Weertman touched the electronic pads at the finish line just before Spiros Gianniotis of Greece, giving the Dutchman his first gold medal in his first Olympics.

The official results showed the first two swimmers with the same time.

Marc-Antoine Olivier of France won the bronze medal.

Tuesday's race is the first of three editions to take place in the ocean. The water temperature was a comfortable 21 C under sunny skies.

(Reporting by Mary Milliken, editing by Neil Robinson)