Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club hosted the annual Festina Malta - Gozo - Malta and Gozo - Malta swimming championships, held under the auspices of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta. 

Swimmers enjoyed clear seas, although the course was dotted with light currents, a slight swell near Comino and frequent jellyfish sightings. 

 

Malta - Gozo - Malta

Leah Satariano, who made her debut in the Malta - Gozo - Malta race, emerged clear winner of the 11 kilometre race when she was the first swimmer to cross the finish line in Marfa, on Saturday morning.  Satariano clocked a finish time of 3 hours 2 minutes, 13 seconds.  Satariano's shy character belies her strong and determined nature when in the water. A testament of this was her performance in the Club's swimming championships this summer, where she emerged National Champion.  Thirty seconds behind her was veteran swimmer Robert Vella, who equally performed well in the championships. In third overall place was Nicholas Desira who crossed the finish line in a time of 3 hours 6 minutes, 43 seconds and claimed second place on the Males' podium. Desira who is based in Australia has regularly participated in this race. Kristjan Briffa, clocking a time of 3:32:20 was the third male to finish.

Making up the female podium was Anjelika Ruggier, who also raced this distance for the first time. She clocked a time of 3:13:19. Following Ruggier was Kamilla Boross  in a time of 3:16:15.

 

Gozo - Malta

Malta's National Open Water Swimming Champion Stefano Debono Grech was no surprise winner of the 6km race, after producing some outstanding performances in  the national championships over the summer.  Debono Grech clocked a time of 1 hour 28 minutes 7 seconds. This was Debono Grech's first foray in the channel swim. Behind him was Hannah Cutajar, fresh from her Gold Medal win at the ETU Age Group Sprint Triathlon championships in Russia.  Cutajar finished the race in an hour 31 minutes 44 seconds, registering an improvement from her last participation in 2017.

The Males' podium, following Debono Grech, featured Mark Sammut and Enrico Ferluga. Sammut clocked a time of 1:32:25, whilst Ferluga 1:40:28. The Females' podium was completed by Daniela Apap Bologna in second place and registering a time of 2:02:26 and Rosette Pace who with a time 2:08:26 earned the third place on the podium.

Trophies were presented to the overall and age group winners by Mr. Henri Mattocks, General Manager, Ramla Bay Resort and Mr. Daniel Agius, who presented the male and female winners of the two races with a Festina watch.

"This Race is one of the Club's flagship races. In the past this race has been ranked amongst the top 70 open water swims in the world. The nature of the race requires detailed planning which involves numerous stakeholders - Transport Malta, Armed Forces and the Police force are key to ensuring the saftey of the swimmers.  Planning starts almost immediately after each race for the next edition.  The Club is grateful for their assistance but also for the support shown by the participating athletes as well as our sponsor Festina Watches and the crew at the Ramla Bay Resort for once again enabling us to host the event at their premises.  Thank you goes to the volunteers and the medical team from Malta Red Cross crews " - Raymond Grech, President, Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club.

 

Results

Festina Malta - Gozo - Malta 

Overall	Males	Females
1st	Robert Vella	Leah Satariano
2nd	Nicholas Desira	Anjelika Ruggier
3rd	Kristjan Briffa	Kamilla Boross

 

Age Groups
Masters A	Bernard C. Farrugia	Rachel Doyle
Masters B	Anthony Cremona	n/a
Masters C	Russell Wilson	Isabelle Zarb
Masters D	n/a	Eileen Remedios

 

Festina Gozo - Malta 

Overall	Males	Females
1st	Stefano Debono Grech	Hannah Cutajar
2nd	Mark Sammut	Daniela Apap Bologna
3rd	Enrico Ferluga	Rosette Pace

 

Age Groups
Masters A	Andrew Neal Farrugia	Inger Cini
Masters B	Jesmond Bezzina	Maria Vella-Galea
Masters C	Steven Apap Bologna	Debbie Caruana Dingli
Masters D	Amand Veranneman Van Hoek	n/a