Loren Dale Echavez showed that she no longer fears long-distance open-water swimming competition as she successfully retained her title in the 6-kilometer competitive category of the 5th Olango Challenge yesterday at the Tambuli East in Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City.
Echavez not only clinched her second straight title but also improved her time from last year’s one hour, 23 minutes and 40.87 seconds to 1:22:19.22.
Echavez, who was leading the contest all the way, said that having joined the event three times already made her comfortable with the open-waters.
Finishing second to Echavez was Beth Mae Arellano of the Cebu Blue Marlins Swimming Club (CBMSC) after clocking 1:41:29.25 while third place was copped by another USC tanker in Rozelle Marie Diaz with her time of 1:41:31.56.
The men’s 6K title went to Kiefer Ticao of the Makati Skipjack Swim Club. He finished the race in 1:23:19.22
Second and third places went to Cebuano tankers Keith Ocampo, who swam under Team RAFI, and Tristan Kirk Ebon of CBMSC. Ocampo clocked 1:28:39.68 while Ebon had a time of 1:30:49.58.
The 2k competitive men and women’s title were won by Gavin Solijon of Team RAFI and Trina Caneda of CBMSC.
The mixed 6K fun top 3 finishers were Marlon Galo, Rico Enriquez and Matthew Vincent Vega.
The mixed 2K fun, on the other hand, had Dianne Kaye Sy, Ivan Filomenes and Kristine Anne Sy in the top 3.
A total of 112 participants took part in the event organized by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in cooperation with the Philippine Swimming Inc. formerly Philippine Aquatic Sports Association.
Aside from being the Philippine’s premiere open-water long-distance swimming competition, the event is also a fund-raising project of the PBSP for the residents of Olango Island.