MASTER STROKE | Ingemar Macarine after his feat on Saturday, June 24, 2023 — a 10.5-kilometer swim between Bugtong Island and Cataingan town, Masbate. (Photo by LEO UDTOHAN / Inquirer Visayas)
CATAINGAN, Masbate, Philippines — Triathlete-lawyer Ingemar Macarine, also known as the “Pinoy Aquaman,” completed yet another swim that not only tested his limits but also sought to promote his advocacies here on Saturday.
This time, the 47-year-old endurance swimmer braved an estimated 10.5 kilometers of choppy waters to promote “marine conservation, healthy lifestyle, and tourism in Masbate.”
“It’s one of the most difficult swims. I had a hard time in the last kilometer because of the strong current,” Macarine said in an interview after accomplishing the feat in four hours and 22 minutes.
“My swim is more for public awareness. I hope to promote my advocacies through long-distance, open-water swimming,” said Macarine, who serves as a provincial prosecutor in neighboring Bohol.
He crossed the distance between Masbate’s Bugtong Island and Cataingan town, providing one of the highlights of the province’s Bagat Dagat Festival this year (“bagat dagat” means meetings on the beach). Macarine got going around 7 a.m. from Bugtong, encountering strong currents that kept pulling him off course and forcing him at times to change direction. He made it to Barangay Matayum, Cataingan town, at 11:24 a.m.
Macarine, whose swim coincided with the Feast of St. John the Baptist, took a moment to read the Bible and pray before hitting the water. Upon reaching the other side, he said, the lines of Psalm 23—and the images of his children Lance, 14, and Colyn, 11—were on his mind.
“It was so challenging that I thought I could not make it,” said Macarine, who had spent a month preparing his mind, body and spirit for that day.
He earlier gained fame as the first Filipino to swim from Alcatraz Island Penitentiary to San Francisco City, and from the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Bridge in California.
Next: English Channel
He said his next swim would be in Dapitan City before the end of this year, and then in the English Channel, between Southern England and northern France.Quite a marvel for someone who grew up asthmatic.
“I have daily maintenance (medicines) for my asthma, which I take religiously,’’ Macarine said. “Swimming alone cannot cure my asthma. If it can, then (my health issue) would’ve been gone a long time ago.”
“Self-discipline is the key. If I want to swim long distances, I have to prepare for it. I need to sleep seven to eight hours, eat healthy; no alcohol and smoke,” he said.
‘Capital ship point’
Drawing a crowd at both ends, Saturday’s activity was sponsored by Masbate Gov. Antonio Kho and Vice Gov. Elisa Olga Kho as part of the Bagat Dagat Festival.
For Kho, Macarine’s advocacies for the province underscored Masbate’s drive for sustainable development as “the capital ship point in the Philippines.”
The island province occupies a transitional position between the Bicol region and the Visayas. With a population of about 1 million, it is composed of 20 towns, one city, and three major islands (Masbate, Burias, and Ticao, also known as Mabuti).
Rodeo capital of PH
Tourists are drawn to the province by its fine beaches, scenic and hilly landscape, and friendly locals. With vast cattle ranches and a local version of “cowboys,” Masbate is also known as the “Rodeo Capital of the Philippines.”
Held from June 23 to June 24, the Bagat Dagat Festival features various activities, such as a fluvial parade, a boat decoration contest, a beach volleyball tournament, Dragon Boat and motorboat races, a henna tattooing competition, as well as line fishing, kite flying, and fire dancing contests.
Kho hoped that the festival — with Macarine now adding to the splash — would consistently put Masbate on the itinerary of foreign and domestic travelers.