Race report 1# Iguana Open Water Swim, Porto Mari Beach, Curaçao

Since 2010 Curacao is an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It’s located in the Southern part of the Caribbean in between the islands Aruba and Bonaire. Although the location is perfectly for Open Water swimming until recently there wasn’t much more than an annual “Swim for the Roses” charity swim organized.

On Saturday the 9th of May the ‘Federation Aquatiko Korsou’(FAK) organized an official international 5K in the Bay of Porto Marie. Although the weather has been rough all week, with wind forces up to 30kts, the bay provided enough shelter to continue the race. A 1K racetrack was setup.


waiting to start

In total there were 15 competitors competing, mainly locals from Curacao and one guest form Trinidad & Tobago. The winner in the age group 14-17 and overall fastest, was Carolus Josefina. He completed the 5K in 1 hour 2 min and 51 sec. He was followed by Raïm Michiel and Jordan de Windt in respectively 1:03:36 and 1:05:52 all in the age group 14-17.


the leaders during the 5 km


the (overall) winner Carolus Josefina waiting for nr 2 Alleen Mohammed

In the group male 18+, the swimmer from Trinidad & Tobago, Alleem Mohammed, won the gold in a time of 1 hour 2 min and 58 sec. Behind him were Jursil Cirino and Erwin Ruijsink in respectively 1:11:22 and 1:11:27.There were only two woman participating in the race. A young talent from Curacao, Bo-Anne Bos was the fastest in a time of 1:09:42. In the ladies 18+ category Petra Vermeer completed the track in 1:18:50.

Next to the 5K race, the FAK also organized a ‘Fun Race’ of approximate 1K which was open for everyone with the age of 8 years and older. The main goal of this race was off course ‘Fun’ but also to introduce the sport of Open Water swimming to a broader audience.

The Iguana Open Water swim was a nice ‘First-off’ event with the intention to host more competitors from different islands in the region in the future.The ambition is to host a ‘Olympic distance’ 10K in the future which will definitely draw the attention in the region.