Courtesy of Michel Sommers, Tahiti.
Model and French Polynesia and Air Tahiti Nui Ambassador Stéphane Debaere lives in Bordeaux, France, but his roots are in swimming and his native Tahiti.
The multi-time Pacific Games medalist is also a entrepreneur who brings a large number of Olympic swimmers to Tahiti through his Tahiti Swimming Experience.
In the 1st Tahiti Swimming Experience in 2016, great swimmers like Femke Heemskerk, Sarah Sjöström, Natalie Coughlin, Florent Manaudou, Camille Lacourt, Frédérick Bosquet, Giacomo Perez Dortona and Gregory Mallet swam in Saison 1.
Debaere continued to build the brand and came up with an even bigger and more elaborate Saison 2 of the Tahiti Swimming Experience.
Between December 2nd – 8th, he will be joined by Aurélie Muller (2008 and 2016 Olympian, 2017 world 10 km gold medalist, 2017 world 5 km mixed relay gold medalist, 2015 world 10 km gold medalist, 9-time French national champion, 2015-2017 FINA World Cup stage champion), Marc-Antoine Olivier (2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 2017 world 5 km gold medalist, 2017 world 5 km mixed relay gold medalist, 2017 world 10 km bronze medalist, 2016 FINA World Cup stage champion, 5-time French national champion), Logan Fontaine (2017 world 5 km mixed team gold medalist, 2016 world junior 7.5 km gold medalist, 4-time French national champion), Camille Lacourt (2-time Olympian, 5-time world backstroke champion), Philippe Lucas (2017 FINA Open Water Swimming Coach of the Year, coach of 5 Olympic medalists, 20 world championship medalists, 49 European championship medalists and 7 world record holders) and Stéphane Lecat (10-time world open water champion and National Team Open Water Program Director and 2018 recipient of the Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award) in Tahiti and Mo’orea.
Saison 2 of the Tahiti Swimming Experience includes several events, marine conservation projects, and 3 ocean swims on 3 differents courses on Tahiti and Moorea islands:
On December 3rd, a Tere Fa’ati Fatutira and Pebble Fishing will be held on Tautira, Tahiti.
On December 4th, a Fa’atau Aroha Ceremony will be held on Tahiti – Paea, Tahiti.
On December 5th, swim from Tahiti to Pointe Vénus including a 4 x 200m relay, a 5 km race and a 2 km ocean race from Mahina to Pointe Vénus.
On December 7th, swim from Mo’orea to Plage de Tema’e including a 4 x 200m relay and a 2 km and a 10 km Moz Coral Open Water Race from Haapiti to Tiahura.
On December 8th, swim from Tahiti to Ta’apuna including a 4 x 500m relay, a 2.5 km and a 5 km race.
Saison 3 of the Tahiti Swimming Experience will include a 20 km ocean swim (EDF Tour Aqua Challenge – Tahiti) from Ta’apuna on Tahiti to Plage de Temae on Moorea in October 2019.
The Tahitian Swimming Federation launched open water swimming in French Polynesia with the support of the French Swimming Federation.
Additionally, the Tahiti Swimming Experience is committed to minimizing the event’s impact on the local environment and swimmers can help to preserve the marine environment more sustainably by being involved with two associations: Moorea Coral Gardeners and Nana Sac Plastique to sustainably preserve coral gardens in Polynesia. Swimmers can adopt a coral and participate in the cuttings workshop in the lagoon of Plage de Tema’e in order to participate in the largest chain of safeguarding Tahiti’s coral.
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