The Daily News Of Open Water Swimming

To educate, entertain, and enthuse those who venture beyond the shore

Newsletter

Random News

Liberty Wave Graces The Shores Of Singapore

Courtesy of Daniel Tan, Singapore Swimming Association.

Since 2016, Liberty Insurance has worked closely with Singapore Swimming Association to inject new energy into the Singapore swimming scene, putting open water swimming back on the local radar with a three-day festival. The last large-scale open water swim event held in Singapore dated back to 2007.

When asked about Liberty Insurance’s intention to revive open water swimming, CEO of Liberty Insurance Chang Sucheng said “As an island, Singapore is surrounded by water, and thanks to the tropical weather, locals hit the beach anytime during the year. Developing swimming in the Open Water is thus more of an essential survival skill now than just a sport. This importance has also been highlighted by the recent drowning cases here.”

Liberty Insurance worked closely with the Singapore Swimming Association to launch Liberty Wave, a 3-day festival between September 29th to October 1st at East Coast Park.

David Tay explains, “We promise to provide participants with a holistic open water swim experience through a two-pronged approach: theory and practical.”

The theory portion of Liberty Wave is reflected through Wave Class, a full day workshop conducted by Steven Munatones. “He will share with participants different topics ranging from the history of open water swimming, key steps to swimming well in open water races, and even recovery and sports performance techniques during the workshop on 30th September. The topics will be well-balanced to take into account the diverse audience group comprising veteran and competitive swimmers, parents, coaches, race directors and sports researchers,” says Tay.

I greatly respect Liberty Insurance’s desire to revive and grow open water swimming in Singapore with the support of Singapore Swimming Association. It is an hour to help set the groundwork so that others can follow-up and further develop the sport in future years,” said Munatones.

The practical portion of Liberty Wave, Race the Waves offers 1 km, 2 km and 4 km races. Tay explained, “One aspect of Liberty Wave is Wave Kids, a 300m swim targeted at kids 7–12 years old in the open water. This swim is meant to allow kids to familiarize themselves with open water conditions, with lifeguards on kayaks and safety boats ensuring their safety.”

We are very happy that Liberty Insurance took the initiative to work with us to revive open water swimming in Singapore. Although open water swimming only became an Olympic event at the 2008 Beijing Games, the activity of groups of people having fun swimming in the open water has been active for many years now, especially overseas. It will be very inspiring to see this sport grow in Singapore, and for more Singaporeans to be confident and efficient to swim in the open water. I would especially encourage all parents to sign their kids up for the challenge,” said Singapore Swimming Association president Lee Kok Choy.

For more information, visit www.libertywave.sg.

Copyright © 2008-2017 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top