Third successive win for Galea, Spiteri

Keith Galea and Danica Spiteri marched on unchallenged in their quest to win the 2008 Birkirkara St Joseph Open Water Swim Series as the current leaders in the provisional standings both obtained a third victory in as many races.

As in previous races, Galea was pushed to the final buoy by Simon Zammit, who stayed close to the leader until the former opened his winning sprint. Galea won the two-kilometre race in 30 minutes 19 seconds. Zammit clocked 30:26.

Third place was claimed by Luke Bonnici and Keith Bartolo after both finished in 33:04.

Spiteri produced another good time when stopping the clock at 32:26. However, her performance was one minute and 22 seconds slower than her fastest time this season.

On the other hand, defending champion Isabelle Zarb was second in 34:51, almost a minute faster than her previous race. Michelle Wood finished third in 36:39.

The fourth race in the six-race series will be held tomorrow at St Paul's Bay, starting at 6 p.m.

The following race, on August 6, will be the longest of the series, a four-kilometre swim in the build-up for the Gozo-Malta challenge which will be held on August 23.