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From Beaches in Okinawa to Vortex Pools in Tokyo, NOWS Events Are Cool

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Yasuhide Nakamura helps organize and promote pool and open water swimming events for NOWS (Nature and Open Water Swimming) headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

But the NOWS pool competitions are not up and down a black line with the swimmers separated by lane lines, with starting blocks and touch pads. That would be way too traditional – and too short.

No….NOWS does pool events a bit differently. NOWS holds its annual pool competition in a beautiful, seaside Prince Hotel Oiso vortex pool north of Tokyo (see photos above). The competition distances range from 500m, 1 km, 3 km, 5 km to 10 km with a 4x500m relay in addition. Nakamura explains, “The pool is held in a 500 meter lap course, like a running track. Normally, the water flow is created by a machine, but during this swimming competition the water flow is stopped.”

This summer, 22-year-old Hiroto Iwabuchi won the 10 km vortex race in 1:35:51, followed by 48-year-old Kentaro Nakamura in 1:50:11 and 50-year-old Kota Kojima in 1:52:49.

NOWS also holds open water swimming competitions throughout Japan, but if you ever have an opportunity to travel to Okinawa, please do so. The NOWS event in Ishigaki Island is in a tropical paradise, the weather is beautiful, the marine life is abundant, the coral reefs are magical, the food is delicious, the swimming community is friendly.

To follow NOWS on Facebook, visit here. To visit the NOWS Japanese-language website, visit here.

© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline

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