Birkirkara St. Joseph swimmers Keith Galea and Isabelle Zarb have virtually wrapped up the title they had won last year with their respective victories in the fourth race of the Open Sea Swimming Series 2007 held at Marsascala.

Galea led the race from the start swimming the two kilometres in 31 minutes 9 seconds. Team-mate Luke Bonnici grabbed second place in the final moments of the race in 33 minutes 11 seconds, reaching the finishing buoy one second ahead of Keith Bartolo.

Veteran swimmer Isabelle Zarb confirmed her superiority in open sea swimming by keeping her hundred per cent record in a time of 35 minutes 42 seconds. Zarb's last defeat was in the last race of the 2005 Series at the hands of the overall winner Angele Cremona.

At the Marsascala race Michelle Wood placed second in 37 minutes 19 seconds, ahead of Susan Farrugia who clocked 38 minutes 36 seconds.

The fifth race in this Series will be held on 8 August, over a distance of four kilometres. This race should be a good test for those swimmers preparing for the Gozo-Malta Open Sea Swimming Challenge scheduled for Saturday, 28 August. Further information is available on the Birkirkara St. Joseph web-site www.bkarastjoseph.com