Altea positions itself as the European Capital of Open Water Swimming

International open water championship Oceanman united more than 1500 people for a weekend of sport, competitive spirit and leisure

Last April 25-26 athletes from all over the world came to Altea to compete in the first swim of the Oceanman championship. Faithful to its nature, it was truly an international event with representatives from 12 different countries, building up to a solid 20% of the total number of participants.

Swimming experience in Altea wasn`t all about competing but also about leisure and other sports events, including the wetsuit test run, clinics session in the municipal pool of Altea, a cocktail party and the technical briefing at the local youth center, to name just a few.

In the early morning, at 9.am, swimmers were given headstart to the first 10km race, starting at La Olla beach and finishing at the beach of La Roda. Adrián Gonzaléz, the current state subchampion of open water swimming won out in the final sprint the Andalusian champion Paco García and the Swedish swimmer Alexander Berggren.

Georgia Alice Amison from the UK finished first in the female category, followed by Eliana Sotelo and Ineke Weekers in the second and third positions respectively.

The second morning swim of the day had to be modified due to the strong wind current coming from the south. The participants of this race tackled 2500 m out of initial 5000m with the start and finish at La Roda beach. In the male category the victory went to Victor Benages from Castile, with Jaime Marqués from Toledo and Iñaki Guridi from the Basque Country in the second and third positions. Female category featured Sandra Ortolá from swim club Altea in the third position, Rebeca Santos from swim club Torrijos second and Ana Martínez from swim club Palma in the first position.

Oceanman Altea also offered a non-competitive 1.5km race with the start and finish at La Roda beach. As traditional this race generated lots of interest among the public who had the chance to witness the finish line live.

Overall three competitions gathered more than 550 swimmers. In May the championship series is moving to the Costa Brava, Palamós, to bring together once again more than 500 swimmers for a memorable and enjoyable open water experience. Oceanman will be back to Alicante´s coast in October with the European Oceanman Final in Benidorm 25 October.

More details on the championship at: www.oceanman-openwater.com

Press release from Oceanman