Female swimmer is first to do double distance

National swimmer Davina Mangion braved the open seas to win an 11-kilometre race from Malta to Gozo and back, becoming the first person to make the double-distance swim and surprising onlookers who expected a man to be the victor.

She entered the water just after sunrise, at 6.30 a.m., emerging a gruelling two hours and 45 minutes later to the sound of applause and looks of surprise from tourists who were waiting for the first swimmer to arrive.

“The look on their face was priceless when they noticed it was a woman who came out first,” she said.

“I expected to arrive first but I didn’t expect to beat the others by so big a margin,” the 23-year-old national swimmer said, after coming in 22 minutes ahead of the other participants.

The Open Water Swimming Challenge was held in aid of Inspire Foundation. The event, organised by Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club on Saturday, saw 57 participants swim the 5.5 km Gozo Channel, with 11 of those completing the distance both ways.

“I knew I was faster than the other swimmers doing the race but I expected those who joined in half way to catch me up as I was tired,” Ms Mangion said. The ardent swimmer said she kept asking her mother who was on the accompanying boat, “Are they coming up behind me?”

The race was supported by several vessels and included the Red Cross, the Armed Forces and the Malta Maritime Authority. On top of this, Ms Mangion was accompanied by a personal boat.

However, she did not feel completely secure, she said, especially in light of the recent reports of large fish being sighted. “While I was doing the swim I kept telling myself that the sightings were not sharks, they were just big fish,” she said, adding that she felt much less safe than the half distance swim she completed last year.

Ms Mangion said that she had not trained specifically for the event but continued her national training regime for the FINA Short Course World Championships, which will be held in December in Dubai.

There was a big difference between open water swimming and swimming in a pool: “For a start, open water swimming is so much less boring than normal swimming – you have to look out for jellyfish and convince yourself that no fish is coming up from underneath you.”

But she admitted that the three-hour swim felt very lonely at times.