Courtesy of WOWSA, Río Coronda, Argentina.
17-year-old Martina Oriozabala Frettes will be the youngest swimmer in history to compete in the Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda, 57 km down the Río Coronda in Argentina.
The event has been held for the last 45 years.
The Club Mendoza de Regatas member said, “Santa Fe – Coronda is a unique event, it is a swimming party. It is beautiful. When I saw [the event] last year, I decided to swim it and prepared for the qualification race.”
The qualification race is 28.5 km. To qualify, swimmers have to swim faster than 4 hours 30 minutes. Oriozabala qualified as the fastest woman as she finished in 4 hours 10 minutes.
Her success in the water is not surprising as her father is Gustavo Oriozabala who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001.
One of her favorite foods to eat during a long swim is sweet potatoes, a source of energy that her father hands her from her escort boat. “[Santa Fe – Coronda] is my first experience [in the FINA UltraMarathon Swim Series]. I want to enjoy it. When I saw the race last year I started to cry, imagining what it will be now when I reach the finish.”
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