The fourth race of the Arena BSJ Open Water Swimming Championships, which took place in Salina bay on Wednesday afternoon, saw swimmers battling swells a result of the North Westerly winds that hit the islands in the afternoon. 

The sea conditions were reflected in the times registered by the swimmers who all registered marginally slower times than the previous week.  The only exception was race winner Stefano Debono Grech who despite the challenging conditions managed to shave off five seconds from the previous week.  Second male to cross the line was Robert Vella, Enrico Ferluga claimed third place on the podium.

The women's category was won by Leah Satariano. Satariano was second out of the water behind Debono Grech, showing good progress since the start of the Championships this year. Second female and fourth overall was National Triathlon Champion Hannah Cutajar who was followed by Adriana Ferreira Massa.

The fifth race of the Arena BSJ Open Water Swimming Championships will take place on Wednesday 24^th July.  With regards to  the qualification requirements  for  the  Club's Gozo-Malta  and  Malta-Gozo-Malta  Open  Water  Swimming Competition,  the race being held on the  24^th July will  have  an  extended  distance  of  2  kilometres  for  the  sake  of  those swimmers  who  will  not  be  able  to compete  in  the  4-kilometre  OWS  championship race being held on the 31^st July.   However, swimmers are advised that on  the  24^th July  the  official  time  taken  will  be  that  for  the  2-kilometre distance which will be valid for the championships' general classification, and the 4-kilometre timing will be only valid for the channel swims qualification.

For more information about these races please send an email to [email protected].