585 Cross River In Paso a Nado de los ríos Orinoco y Caroní
Emerging 17-year-olds Diego Vera of Venezuela and Kleidymar Benitez won the popular 3.1 km Paso a Nado de los ríos Orinoco y Caroní in Guayana.
The teenagers beat over 585 other competitors in a time of 33:09 and 37:29 respectively.
Vera is an up-and-comer who captured the silver medal in the 5 km race at the 2012 FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Canada.
Vera said after the race, “We are happy because we do not train in the open water. But I was able to adapt well against the very strong currents with the help of the excellent organization of the race.”
While Vera won comfortably over Jose Alejandro Perdomo in the cross-river swim where the currents are unpredictable, Benitez was closely followed by two other young ladies, Perla in 37:33 Aragua Montenegro in 37:34.
Photo of second place Miguel Pérez by Antonio Garcia Jr.
Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming
