Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Ingemar Macarine has had big plans for a few years now.

He wants to become the first Filipino who successfully crosses the English Channel.

It is an audacious goal, but one in which Macarine thinks about and trains for on a daily basis. “I am the first swimmer on Eric Hartley’s Pathfinder charter sometime between August 14th-18th on a neap tide.”

Over the weekend, Macarine had an unplanned and unprecedented marathon swim. What started out as a normal 3-hour ocean training swim turned out into another pioneering marathon swim. His 12.45 km swim was completed in 5 hours 11 minutes from the Treasure Island Resort on Panggangan Island in the Municipality of Calape to Sandingan Port on Sandingan Island in the Municipality of Loon, located in the Province of Bohol. “This is my second marathon swim in the Cebu Strait. It was supposed to be a regular open water training session, but I decided to continue the swim due to excellent weather conditions and glassy waters.

I encountered the usual strong current and three separate swarms of nasty jellyfish while passing through the eastern side of coral rich Island of Cabilao. They usually come out in swarms during summer season,” explained Macarine.

The swim was navigated by Ireneo Cuabo using a small motorized boat and crewed by Agapito Mapatac and Ben Omusora.

Copyright © 2008-2017 by World Open Water Swimming Association