San Bartolomé de Tirajana has spent a full morning of open water swimming, alongside world champions David Meca and Erika Villaécija
There is no one who can beat them. The 13th edition of the Maspalomas Open Water Gran Canaria has once again revalidated its podium of champions in the general category with Eduard Mannanov and Elena Sarmiento crowning one more year. The 2023 leaders have established themselves as champions in this 2024 edition as well, beating Poseidon in a race that is already an icon in San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
With its 7.400-metre, 2.000-metre and 1.000-metre categories, the finish line at the Maspalomas Lighthouse was a great sporting celebration, supported by world champion David Meca, the event's sponsor, and the psychologist, Olympic swimmer, world champion and four-time European champion, Erika Villaécija, as its godmother.
The 100% sustainable trophy for this edition, made from plastics collected from other events, was taken by the undisputed leader of the 7.400 metres, Eduard Mannanov, with a record and unrivalled time of 1 hour, 29 minutes and 51 seconds (1h29'51”), followed by the second-place finisher, Yaré Cocera from CN Metropole, with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes and 1 second (1h39'01”), on a podium which was closed in third position by Miguel Ángel Santana from the Faynagua Ciudad de Telde club, stopping the clock at 1 hour, 42 minutes and 47 seconds (1h42'47”).
In the women's classification of the 7.400-metre race, Elena Sarmiento from CD Swim & Train Maspalomas defended her title with a time of 1 hour 53 minutes and 19 seconds (1h53'19”), ahead of the second-place finisher, Isabel Valido from CN Las Palmas with a final time of 1 hour 57 minutes and 6 seconds (1h57'06”), and Ainhoa Santana from the Salpicaswim club with 2 hours, 5 minutes and 25 seconds (2h05'25”).
The 2.000-metre race was led by Lucas Henríquez (28'54”), Jeremy Tomás Peña (26'56”) and almost arriving at the same time, Daniel Santos (26'57”) in third place. In the women's category, Olivia Aguiar (27'58”) led the classification, along with Raquel Ruiz (28'01”) and Valeria Pulido (28'01”) crossing the finish line.
As every year, the 1.000-meter event was the most popular, engaging and emotional event of the day, with David Meca and Erika Villaécija encouraging every stroke of the competitors, of all levels and all ages.
On a summer day and with an audience devoted to the magical atmosphere created at the finish line, the participants were welcomed with live music and the warmth of open water lovers, gathered to celebrate the sporting challenge of the hundreds of swimmers in this edition.
The swimmer Alonso Suárez (1.000'13”) took the finishing line in the 40 metres, and almost shared the finish line, separated by thousandths of a second, Iván González (14'28”) and Marcos Oubiña (14'28”) came in second and third at the finish. In the women's category, she was the fastest to the finish line, overtaking her rivals in the men's category, Nerea Hernández (14'17”), followed by Julia Bello (15'00”) and Aroa Mendoza (16'06”) to close the most frenetic event of the day.
This 2024, the Maspalomas Open Water Gran Canaria has repeated as an inclusive event by having on its starting line athletes with functional diversity both international and national, who did not want to miss this event that is already a classic in the national sports calendars. With Maspalomas as a backdrop, and with different starts from El Pajar, Meloneras beach and Maspalomas, this event has once again been an example of sustainability, camaraderie, effort, work, respect, discipline, self-confidence, dedication, and improvement, taking another step towards a cleaner sea and a greener future through open water swimming, one of the most versatile and healthy disciplines that exist.
The Maspalomas Open Water Gran Canaria is organised by the company Top Time Eventos, promoter of the event, with the support of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana Town Council and its tourist brand Maspalomas Costa Canaria, in addition to the support of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through the European Island of Sport programme, the Gran Canaria Island Institute of Sports and Tourism, as well as the Government of the Canary Islands, Canary Islands Tourism, the Government of Spain and collaborating companies.
