Record participation expected in channel crossing

The annual swim challenge across the Maltese archipelago, organised by Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club under the auspices of the Aquatic Sports Association (ASA), will this year be held on August 20.

Swimmers will take off from Ras il-Qala in Gozo at 8.15 a.m. for a five-and-a-half-kilometre swim to Marfa in Malta.

This event has become the highlight of a now established Open Water swimming season, which has been gaining in popularity especially in the last couple of years.

In fact, with the application deadline closing in, the organisers were expecting another bumper entry, possibly a record for the event.

This year, the Swimming Board within the Birkirkara St Joseph SC fold have 110 swimmers from various clubs registered in its open water swimming championships.

These are held over six events, five on a distance of two kilometres and the remaining one four kilometres long.

Swimmers will have to qualify through these open water championships in order to be eligible to take part in the Gozo-Malta channel ­crossing.

Under the leadership of Isabelle Zarb, the BSJ Swimming Board has made various amendments to the Gozo-Malta swim, notably establishing the event both as a challenge for those who want to take it up as such, and as a race which attracts some of Malta’s top swimmers.

Birkirkara SJ said the Gozo-Malta channel will be closed for maritime traffic during the event on August 20.

As in previous years, Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club has teamed up with Inspire to raise funds through this event in favour of this charitable institution.

PowerBar and Yellow Pages (Malta) Ltd will be assisting Birkir-kara St Joseph Sports Club in the cross-channel swim challenge.

The 2010 winners of the Gozo-Malta swim race were Robert Vella and Suzanne Farrugia with 29 male and 17 female swimmers taking part.

Vella completed the 5.5km distance in 1:26.00 ahead of Richard Zerafa (1:29.55) and Joe Zerafa Boffa (1:29.57).

Farrugia (1:37.56) left her best for the final stages to stave off the bold challenge of Caroline Zammit (1:39.14). Donatelle Callus (1:58.15) was third just ahead of Kerstin Gatt.

On that occasion, however, open water swim champion Davina Mangion upstaged all her peers when winning a challenging one-off race from Gozo to Marfa and back to commemorate BSJ’s 35th anniversary. Mangion swam the distance in 2:45.48.