Open Water Swimming in Qurum on Friday

MUSCAT, MAY 2

The Oman Aquatics Federation (OAF), the newly approved name of former Oman Swimming Association, is all set to organise the 15th edition of Oman Open Water Swimming Championship in Qurum Beach on Friday. The federation announced recently changing the location of the event to take place in Muscat instead of Duqm. The previous year's championship was held in Dibba.

More than 60 swimmers representing 13 clubs confirmed their presence in this year’s championship. The participating teams and swimmers will compete for the cash prizes of more than RO 2,500 besides the gold medals and trophies for the top winners. The championship will feature different categories including senior category for above of 18 years old and youth category for between 14 to 17 years old. Both categories will swim for a distance of 3 kilometres.

The competition will be for three rounds and each round for 1 km. The youth category competitions will begin at 8:30 am while for senior it will start at 8:45 am. The registration and numbering of all the swimmers will start at 7 am. Another category is dedicated for masters with 500 metres distance.

The medal ceremony of the championship will take place after the conclusion of all the competitions as the chief guest Eng Ahmed bin Hassan al Dheeb, Vice-Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, will distribute the awards and medals to the top winners in presence of top dignitaries and officials.

Salalah club were the title holders of the last year while Jaalan Club ended the event as runners-up and Majees Club finished in third place. The last championship had registered participation of more than 65 swimmers representing 15 clubs.

Great opportunity

Malallah al Busaidy, Secretary-General of OAF, said that Oman Open Water Swimming Championship is one of the top domestic event. “The championship is a great opportunity for the club swimmers and the national team swimmers to gain the maximum technical outcomes. The national team swimmers will take part in the event as a training purpose without competing in different categories of the championship except the swimmers who are representing their clubs,” he added.

Al Busaidy, who will act as championship director, affirmed that all the logistics and technical arrangements are almost completed. “The registration will begin early in the morning at 7 am and we hope all the clubs to corporate with the organising committee towards the success of the event. The final and medals ceremony will be held in a closed hall in a hotel in Muscat after the competitions end. During the podium ceremony, the top swimmers will be feted besides the sponsors from government and private sectors,” he concluded.

The championship will be headed by the secretary-general of OAF while international referee Said Khairallah will be the main umpire of the tournament and Abdulmoneim al Alawi, Fina open water referee, will be the technical director of the event.