More than 600 swimmers of all levels participated in the event held in the crystal clear waters of Puerto del Carmen
An idyllic sports day that was held this Saturday in Playa Grande with the seventh edition of the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water that managed to bring together more than 600 participants from more than 20 different nationalities.
The Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water consolidates one more year with a new success that also serves as a reference as a guaranteed competition. Good faith in this can be given by the various regional and national sports federations, since the Lanzarote event is part of both the Spanish Open Water Cup, the Canary Islands Open Water Cup and the Lanzarote Open Water Cup.
Thus, the great ingredients come together in a competition that is capable of receiving the best local, national and international athletes. The excellent weather conditions of Lanzarote are a lure, especially for that foreign public that the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water has always received with open arms, especially when it is an event that makes it possible to start the sports season soon.
Added to the high level of athletes and the extraordinary weather are its different modalities of 5, 3.8 and 1.9km that feed the competition even more, leaving room for any profile of athlete who wants to put themselves to the test or simply live the experience. Even initiates to this discipline or young swimmers from basic categories can join, with routes of 800, 400 and 200m, to continue enriching that special atmosphere that the competitors talk about so much.
In this seventh season of the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water, the fastest were Joan Macario (0:57:32.51), swimmer from CN Metropole; and Kennedy Hope (0:59:04.66), from CN Nadamas, who won gold in the 5km event, in the male and female categories, respectively, while the winners in 3.8km were Mauro González (0:41:51.42) and Elena Sarmiento (0:49:20.93); and Gustavo Lourenco (0:22:39.33) and Natalia Sasu (0:25:38.74) in 1.9km.
Hope renewed the title of champion that she also achieved in the previous season and, as she herself admits, “it is a test that I like to do every year and try to start with a good feeling because it is the first competition of the Open Water season” , especially now that she is preparing for the next Spanish Championship to be held in Seville. “I really liked the race, the truth is that I really enjoyed it and the atmosphere of camaraderie and competition that exists here is very good”, concludes the female winner.
The CN Metropole champion is also grateful to be able to get ready so soon with a view to his sports preparation: “The first thing is to thank the organization for this competition because it has been a very good event, with a perfect, ideal circuit and good conditions, good weather and an atmosphere that has been perfect, with very good vibes from everyone and a lot of people cheering. It is a comfortable environment where one enjoys a lot, so I recommend everyone to sign up for the Sailfish Open Water, even those who do not want to do very long challenges, since there are shorter routes and they are also very enjoyable”, Macario points out.
For her part, Elena Sarmiento also emphasizes that “it has been a wonderful day. The second lap was a bit tougher, but I am satisfied with the results obtained. It is the first time I have participated and I found this great environment in which there is a lot of camaraderie between everyone and a lot of motivation, everything was great”.
The quality of the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water also speaks on the lips of prominent athletes who are on their entry lists, such as the Olympians Juan Carlos ‘Kimbo’ Vallejo and Erika Villaécija.
“I took advantage of the fact that I was on the island for a swimming camp and the Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water was part of the program to participate and I loved it”, says Villaécija, who also achieved fourth place in the 1.9km course, “there was a great atmosphere throughout the day,” he stressed.
For ‘Kimbo’, silver in the 5km modality, being able to be in this event “has been a real pleasure. We have really enjoyed the race, because as you can see, the conditions have been quite good”. For the swimmer, now living in Lanzarote, the second round served to “give a bit of excitement to the race because we have brought together the participants from the different modalities. It is a very comfortable and safe crossing, which is next to the beach and here it is like swimming in an aquarium, so I encourage anyone to try it because they will not have any kind of problem”.
The event ended with the presentation of trophies and with the words of Juan Carlos Albuixech, director of Sands Beach Active, who wanted to thank all the participants for their commitment to this event and also highlighted the support received by the Cabildo de Lanzarote from the Department of Sports and Tourism; and from the Tías Town Hall, so that this event could be held. Great work by the entire Sands Beach Active team, which is recognized by the different federations, with a VII Sailfish Lanzarote Open Water that has also been the venue chosen to play the VIII Spanish Open Water Cup, the Canary Islands Open Water Cup and the 1st Lanzarote Open Water Cup.
