It is the first open water swimming camp that is organized in Ecuador, specified the mentalizers of the activity.
Providing a learning space for open water swimming as a challenge or challenge, based on providing theoretical and practical elements throughout three days of training, is the objective of the first open water camp organized on the beach of Salango, province of Manabí, from January 21 to 23.
The mentalizers of the event are the swimmers Kathy García and Sara Palacios, both 35 years old, in conjunction with the Freediverscamp Buceo a Pulmón school and the organization Aguas Abiertas Ecuador.
According to the advanced team led by García, the camp-school includes three crossings. The first is 1.5 kilometers; the second, 1.9 km; and the third and most attractive is the complete return to the island of Salango of 4.5 km, approximately.
The activity will begin on the afternoon of Friday 21 with lessons and experiences narrated by Palacios from Quito, who has the title of the Triple Crown of open water, a recognition granted by the World Open Water Association, WOWSA (World Open Water Swimming Association). , for its acronym in English), to the athlete who completes three of the most important water crossings in the marathons of this specialty.
“The idea is that each person meets the water, that the participants meet themselves and have their own challenge; it’s not a competition at all,” Palacios said.
The owner of the Triple Crown hopes that under her leadership the participants “can overcome their fears when they encounter nature, because we are going to have a night crossing.”
“It really is an encounter with the sea and marine fauna,” he added.
The woman from Quito conquered the English Channel (in July 2018), did the same in the Catalina Channel, in Los Angeles, USA (in July 2019), and made history by crossing the Harleem, East and Hudson, circling the island of Manhattan, in New York (in August 2019).
Ecuadorian feat! Swimmer Sara Palacios crosses the English Channel
It is the first open water swimming camp organized in Ecuador, Garcia and Palacios said.
In this context, the two athletes devised the activity with the slogan of promoting this discipline by carrying out a series of events within the calendar year.
“I also do not rule out a personal illusion that in the future there will be more people who can make the long journeys that I have made in these aquatic marathons, which normally last ten hours or more,” said Palacios.
CROSSINGS
On the morning of Saturday, January 22, the first circuit of 1.5 kilometers is scheduled to arrive at the beach, at the height of the Salango cemetery.
In the afternoon there will be a short night route of 1.8 km, from the beach of the island to the beach of the town.
And on Sunday the largest crossing will be made, the 360 degrees, which includes a complete return to Salango Island with approximately 4.5 km, starting from the beach to the island. This test takes about 1 hour 40 minutes.
Regarding the safety of the competitors, García from Guayaquil indicated that members of the Ecuadorian Navy will provide support and logistics. Likewise, the organization will have enough tools in the sea (kayaks and lighted boats), the routes will be delimited with large competition buoys and each swimmer will have their personal buoy.
Additionally, divers from the Freediverscamp school will be watching the participants in the sea at all times.
“All routes have various individual challenges, as well as swimming in complete darkness. We have done the routes many times and we have the path marked out”, he pointed out, citing five mappings previously carried out between December and January.
Garcia insisted that the goal of the camp is to promote open water swimming and let people know that you can swim on the beaches as well.
“Swimming is not only in the pool. There are a series of elements that are in the sea with which a swimmer can deal with and leave the comfort zone that a lane in a pool gives you,” he stressed.
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