Leonardo Damiani, an Argentine open water swimmer, event organizer, and guide from Sante Fe, reported the return of the famed 88 km Maratón Acuática Hernandarias-Paraná that was formerly part of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix and the Quini 6 series together with the 15 km Maratón Acuática Internactional Ciudad de Rosario and the 57 km Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the world’s fastest marathon swimmers descended upon Argentina and competed over consecutive weekends on these long marathon races. But Argentina since went through a number of economic crises that resulted in the cancellation of the professional marathon races for several years.

But in Santa Fe, a new organization committee was formed to recreate the Santa Fe – Coronda race on February 2nd (won by Alessio Occhipinti, Italy, 28, MSF bio here). Led by two former professional marathon swimmers Diego Degano (Argentina, 57, MSF bio here) and Fernando Fleitas (Argentina, MSF bio here), the Sante Fe – Coronda was a huge success.

Its success is contagious and being replicated elsewhere in the Argentine river races.

The Hernandarias-Paraná race (@aguasabiertasrioparana) was also held on February 22nd. Under challenging conditions with strong winds and tough currents, Mariano Mortara (Argentina, 50) finished first after more than twelve hours of swimming. The competition was organized by the Asociación Civil Barrancas del Paraná and led by former professional marathon swimmer Andrés Solioz (Argentine, MSF bio here) who himself competed in the 1998 edition.

Mariano Morales, Pablo Scozzina, Luciano Bonfico, Ana Bibbo, Daniel Russo, and Juan Mesaglio also competed.

It is great to see all these former Argentine professional marathon swimmers – Degano, Fleitas, and Solioz – working hard to revive the heyday and history of long competitive river swims in South America.

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.