Photo courtesy of Mayor Junard Chan.

Cleevan Alegres, known as the Little Merman, completed the first 42 circumnavigation swim around Mactan Island in his native Philippines on April 26th.

Starting and finishing at the Liberty Shrine in Barangay Mactan, the 25-year-old open-water swimmer started at 5 p.m. on Sunday, put on a wetsuit at 1:30 am the following morning, and ultimately completed the swim in 17 hours 37 minutes. He swam to honor the efforts of Cebuano hero Datu Lapulapu and the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mactan, as well to raise awareness on the importance of protecting and cleaning the marine environment.

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