By Cecilia R. Formoso
THE EL NIDO Tour Guide Association (ENTGA) in partnership with Ten Knots Philippines (TKP), El Nido Foundation (ENF), Joint Task Force Malampaya (JTFM) Malampaya Foundation, Inc. (MFI), Supply Oilfields Services (SOS), Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC)-El Nido Chapter, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary (PCGA) and the Municipal Tourism Office (MTO) of El Nido successfully organized a swimming competition on September 29, 2007.
Hailed as “1st Cadlao Challenge,” it is a 2.5 kilometer distance swimming challenge from the magnificent Cadlao Island towards the mainland beach of the town.
A total number of 32 local and foreign swimmers joined the first ever major swimming competition in the municipality that was truly challenging due to the long distance, depth and strong seawater wave currents.
Twenty five males and seven females bravely dared the distance and swam across to the finish line. Only three participants were unable to finish the race. They were hauled out the water by assigned security marshals and boarded onto boats for safety.
Foreign swimming participants who gamely took the challenge against the locals were from Switzerland, Netherlands, United States and Korea. Prizes for both categories were PhP5,000.00 for 1st prize; PhP3, 000.00 for 2nd prize; PhP2,000.00 for 3rd prize; PhP1, 500.00 for 4th prize and PhP500.00 for the 5th prize.
First prize was sponsored by Terafund International; second prize by ITI and Dolarog Beach Resort; third prize by ITI and SEAIR; fourth prize by Lamuro Beach Resort and El Nido Mayor Leonor Corral and 5th Prizes by Rosanna’s Cottage and Sea Slugs Bar & Restaurant. Many other sponsors given generous donations that added to the success of the competition.
Winners in the men’s category were Estelito Roque (1st place) with a best time of 34.32 minutes; Vicente Socrates (2nd place) at 35.01 min.; Eltre Manal (3rd place) at 35.40 min.; Elfive Manal (4th place) at 39.40 min. and Ramil Leona (5th place) at 40.15 minutes.
In the women’s category, the best time of 55:30 minutes was achieved by Deidre Huizinga from Holland, followed by Armencia Calpatura with 1:03:10 minutes; Judith Distal with 1:03:25 minutes; Joyce Van Dooyewert with a time of 1:04:30 minutes and Grace Moralde with 1:09:01 minutes.
One of the important highlights during the event was at the finish line where the swimmers were cheered by a huge crowd who were amazed by their bravery and prowess, swimming from across Cadlao to the mainland beach.
In the awarding ceremony, Mayor Leonor D. Corral, El Nido’s newly elected mayor, expressed support in making the Cadlao Challenge an annual event that can invite domestic and foreign tourists. She also commended the organizers for doing a job well done in accomplishing the extraordinary activity.
Other highlights were the charming Hawaiian dance performance by the female students of El Nido Elementary School; the beach volleyball and the games for children.
Overall safety of the participants was the main focus of during the swimming challenge. To ensure this, a systematic security plan was designed and strictly implemented. The swimmers were instructed to swim on the left side of the route to the finish line. Sea traffic boat marshals with warning flags were assigned on both sides of the swimmers’ route from the starting line to prevent fishing boats and other seacrafts from running over the swimmers.
Medic boats were also strategically positioned on the right side of the swimmers’ path with a physician and certified first aid volunteers to respond to any accident and emergencies.
Swimmers were followed by kayaks that have floating rings, drinking water and warning flags. Other support vessels were speed boats, a jet-ski and outrigger boats. All dinghies, speed boats, kayaks and other rescue boats have color coded flags to give warnings for each emergency situation.
This swimming competition was spearheaded by ENTGA under the leadership of Tani Distal, its organization president. It was implemented in line with the organization’s founding anniversary.
Members who are profiting from guided tours in El Nido’s beautiful natural environment would like to have a meaningful celebration, thus the following goals were agreed upon: to create a tourism event for El Nido during the low season to still attract visitors in the municipality; to promote swimming as an eco-friendly sport; to raise the level of fitness of the local people for a healthier lifestyle; to promote environmental conservation through the sport and to develop competitiveness amongst residents of the town on hosting potential topnotch tourism events.
