The 358 Open Water Swimming Championships will be held this weekend at the beautiful Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas, a world-class leisure living resort in the Philippines. Hosted by the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association, the event capitalizes on the stunningly beautiful coastlines and fabulous open water swimming locations throughout the Philippines. "With open swimming now part of the Olympic calendar, this one way for Philippine Amateur Swimming Association to develop open swimmers who may be able to vie for medals in future Olympic Games," said organizer and former national swimmer Guy Concepcion.
Guy explained the unusual name of the event, "The races will be in 3K, 5K and 8K which is why the swimfest is called 358. We have already around 75 entries for all three divisions, a majority of them triathletes, who are using the event as part of their cross training. However, I do believe that in the future, we should have a national pool for open water swimming if we really want to be competitive in the event." Astutely he also mentioned, "Unlike in the regular swimming events where height, length and size are at a premium, athletes in open water swimming do not need to be too tall or too big to be competitive."
We roundly applaud this development because open water swimming can absolutely prosper in countries like the the Philippines where thousands of miles of beautiful tropical beaches presenting all kinds of conditions are available throughout its archipelago.
Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association
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