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FINIS Philippines boosts water sports down South

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FINIS Philippines boosts water sports in the Visayas; Boracay events set next week

AFTER the triumphant Luzon leg, FINIS Philippines travels south to bring back open water and swimming pool events through the FINIS Boracay Newcoast Open Water Festival in Boracay Island, Aklan, this May 11-15.

Four events are waiting ahead for the country’s best tankers: The Kids of Steel Triathlon – Visayas Leg, the Green Aquathlon, the Open Water Swim, and the Caticlan-Boracay Channel Crossing Fun Swim.

Managing director Coach Vince Garcia said FINIS Philippines expressed their optimism to carry the momentum with more sporting events in the Visayas through this event.

“It would be more of an investment to make it an annual event that will keep growing next year and the year after and so on,” said Garcia.

FINIS Philippines are also excited to hold the set of events in Megaworld’s Boracay Newcoast. The country’s largest developer of integrated urban townships is developing fast to become a multisports hub in the Visayas.

FINIS tied up with Megaworld’s Belmont Hotel, now the event’s official hotel partner, as the latter is extending discounts to participants and their entourage.

Garcia also expressed their gratitude to the local government units for their undying support and smooth coordination.

“We’d like to thank Aklan governor Honorable Florencio Miraflores for endorsing our events and likewise for the assistance of Malay Municipal Mayor Honorable Floribar Bautista in making these events possible.”

The online registration of the four events is still ongoing and available on the RaceYaya website.

Caticlan-Boracay Channel Crossing Fun Swim

The open water festival kicks off its first race with the Caticlan Channel Crossing Fun Swim on May 13.

The fun swim will commence at the beach next to Tabon Port in the Municipality of Caticlan, and swimmers will cross more than a kilometer up to the Manoc-Manoc Beach in Boracay.

“It’s just an exciting event for participants and those accompanying them to participate in rare channel crossing swim events that they can brag or talk about,” added Garcia.

Swimming in the open water benefits the body by boosting better blood and oxygen circulation, immune system, and metabolism. The cold water also stimulates the body to repair and actively recover itself.

Finis Green Aquathlon

The FINIS Green Aquathlon starts on May 14. FINIS dubbed the name to promote races that are conscious of the environment.

“We’re going to make sure no trash is thrown during the race, no plants and animals in or out if the water is harmed. We’ll also be doing beach cleanups,” said Garcia.

The Green Aquathlon aims to raise proactiveness by involving athletes, spectators, and the media to protect the environment. Finis encourages everyone involved to reduce event’s waste products, separate waste, and recycle plastic.

The adult aquathlon will have a 2.5K run, 800m swim, and 2.5K run course. It will have eight age groups (16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, and 50-Above) for the male athletes and four age groups (16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-Above) for the female athletes.

Meanwhile, the kids’ aquathlon will have four age groups for the boys and girls: 6-Under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-15.

Course distances of each kids age group are 50m swim and 200m run (6-Under), 100m swim and 200m (7-8 age group), 200m swim and 1K run (9-10 age group), 300m swim, and 2K run (11-12 age group), and 400m swim and 4K run (13-15 age group).

Finis Kids of Steel Triathlon – Visayas Leg

Also, on May 14, the Visayas leg of the Kids of Steel (KOS) triathlon will take place at the Boracay Newcoast.

KOS will have five age categories with different course distances: 6-Under (50m swim, 700m bike, and 200m run), 9-10 (200m swim, 2K bike, and 1.5km run, 11-12 (200m swim, 4K bike, and 1.5km run), and 13-15 (300m swim, 8K bike, 2K run).

The swim leg will start at the floating Finis arch by the beach overlooking Boracay’s east coast waters. Then, all kids have to swim to their designated turnaround buoys by age group, and they will swim back to the floating Finis arch and exit the water to the transition area.

By the time the athletes exit the transition area, they will have to run or walk with their bikes to the bike mount area on the main road. Then, the bike leg needs the athletes to bike towards the Belmont Hotel and make U-turns according to age group.

The athletes will finish by the Belmont Circle, and they will turn left on the main road and towards Cujo’s Keyhole. They will make respective U-turns according to their designated U-turn slots.

Finis also reminds athletes to check their bikes, helmets, and other essential racing gear before the race. In addition, they need to pass a timing mat before the race to ensure they are accounted for during race day.

The KOS is part of the sports program of the partnership between Finis Philippines and the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) as they seek to boost the country’s elite athlete development in the grassroots level.

Finis Open Water Swim

The Open Water Swim Series will be at the Boracay Newcoast on May 15. It showcases three distances for open water swimmers: 1.5K, 3K, and 5K.

The series will have five age groups: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, and 20-Above.

The fun swim is only for swimmers that are comfortable swimming in open waters without anxiety in not seeing the ocean floor. FINIS Philippines advises swimmers not to join the open channel if in doubt.

Swimming in the open waters of Boracay is only a fun swim, not a race. Finis’ goal is to reach the other side of the channel safely.

A veteran swimmer, the team captain, will lead a group of five swimmers and keep them intact the whole time. The captain makes sure the group is swimming at the pace of the slowest swimmer.

The 1K+ swimmers will cross the Boracay Channel once as it’s about kilometer or so across depending on the current.

Swimming across takes around 15-20 minutes. Service boats will retrieve any swimmer still in the water by the cut-off time of 30 minutes to the end of the swim point at the Manoc-Manoc Beach at Boracay Island.

Health and Safety Protocols

According to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) directives, everyone has to use face masks and observe social distancing in all public faces.

Athletes have to download and sign the waiver, health declaration form, and pledge of adherence to all safety protocols. They also need to prepare a medical certificate of fit to race.

After the race, everyone involved in the sprint triathlon, including participants, spectators, and officials, must undergo self-quarantining and monitoring for seven days. Finis will also monitor the participants’ status a week after the event.

Post-Boracay Events

Finis brand ambassadors will lead the upcoming Visayas leg’s Finis Short Course Swimming Competition at Iloilo City on June 25-26, 2022.

Multiple-time Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Year Kyla Soguilon and Aklan’s own Kyla Soguilon and renowned tanker and Bacolod City’s Alexi Kouzenye Cabayaran will join the short course competition.

FINIS Philippines will provide more updates on the next event soon.

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