Race one winners in the Power Bar Open Water Swimming Championships organised by Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club, were Edward Caruana Dingli and Saho Harada, who maintained their winning form by finishing first in the second championship race held at St. Paul’s Bay. These championships, sponsored by Power Bar, are held under the auspices of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta.

Caruana Dingli swam unchallenged around the four 500-metre laps, covering the distance in 26 minutes 56 seconds. His nearest rival, Jordan Calleja, could not sustain the pace of the first race, finishing the two kilometres in 29 minutes 45 seconds, more than two minutes slower that his previous performance. However he still managed to finish second, ahead of reigning champion Roberto Demicoli who finished third in 31 minutes, 7 seconds.

Japanese swimmer Harada Saho had to perform at her best to shrug off the challenge of her rivals Ricarda Kohllappel and Charis Ceccarelli in the females’ race. Harada clocked 31 minutes to Kohllapell’s 31 minutes 17 seconds, and Ceccarelli’s 31 minutes 46 seconds.

The third race in the Power Bar Open Water Swimming Championships will be held on Wednesday, 4 July starting at 6:30 p.m. Full race results are shown on the Birkirkara St. Joseph S.C. website www.bkarastjoseph.com