The Arena Birkirkara St. Joseph Open Water Swimming Championships kicked off on Wednesday afternoon at Salina Bay when the first race of the series took place.
Seventy-one swimmers took part in the 2-kilometre course, with five athletes opting for the half course.
In the Females' Category Sarah Demicoli returned to the top place on the podium, having dominated it for the past few years. Demicoli had a comfortable advantage over second placed Nicole Saia who was followed fourteen seconds behind by Adriana Ferreira Massa. The latter two are newcomers to the open water scene in Malta.
In the Males' Category, Andre Camilleri, who has just returned from a strong performance at the COJI Island Games, won top billing and an improvement over last year's performances in these championships. Second placed was Thomas Woods who was followed by Stefano Debono Grech.
Demicoli and Camilleri are currently training for the FINA / CNSG Marathon Swim World Series 2019 and the Hungarian Junior Swimming Championships which will see them compete in the 10k and 5km courses, respectively in Lake Balaton, Hungary in the forthcoming weeks.
The Arena Birkirkara St. Joseph Races also serve as qualifiers for those interested in taking part in the Festina BSJ Malta-Gozo-Malta and Festina BSJ Gozo-Malta Swimming Competitions. In order to qualify for the latter swimmers must take part in any two of the two- kilometre events and taken part in the four- kilometre event registering a time of less than one hour forty minutes. All those wanting to take part in the Festina BSJ Malta-Gozo-Malta race are required to complete three of the two-kilometre events and registered a time of not more than 1 hour 20 minutes in the four-kilometre event.
The next race of the Arena Birkirkara St. Joseph Open Water Swimming Championships will take place on Wednesday 12th June at 6:30pm. Registration can be done online on www.bkarastjoseph.com or until one hour prior to the start of the race.