Olympic Greats, Swimming, and Beautiful Setting
Fiji Swims Combines It All
Edited by Jennifer L. Price
 To some the idea of swimming 2.6km in an ocean swimming
race might sound like hell on earth. To others it's heaven, especially when you
are in Fiji swimming over beautiful coral reefs teeming with tropical fish alongside US swimming golden girl and two-time Athens Olympic gold
medalist Natalie Coughlin. That is if you can keep up!
Yes, taking an international holiday to participate in fun
recreational open water ocean swimming races is fast becoming a vacation of
choice for people from across the world that enjoy swimming to keep fit. Every
weekend over the summer many hundreds if not over a thousand swimmers compete in
major ocean swims from Maui to Miami. So it's no surprise that people are going
further afield in search of the next ocean to conquer, especially if it means
swimming alongside Olympic greats.
And that's exactly what the “Fiji Swims” offer with a
variety of events including the demanding 18km Fiji Swims - Sofitel Fiji Resort
& Spa to Beachcomber Island relay, through to an inclusive and more gentle 1km
race, where people new to open water ocean swimming are allowed to wear
flippers.
While any reasonably strong swimmer can participate,
competing for first place are some of the world's greatest ever swimmers.
Joining Natalie Coughlin, US “Golden Girl”, are swimming legends from
Australia, Shane Gould (3 gold medals, 1972 Munich) and John Konrads (1 gold
medal, 1960 Rome), together with New Zealand's double gold medalist from the
Atlanta Games, Danyon Loader who won last year's 2.6km race. These swimming
greats add a huge amount of cache to the Fiji Swims that follows the
participation in 2005 of Debbie Meyer, the US triple gold medal winner from the
1968 Mexico City Olympics.
 The Fiji Swims offers an adventure holiday that also allows
people to enjoy the luxury of the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa before heading to
the idyllic tropical coral islands of Beachcomber and Treasure.
The islands are so small you can walk around them in 11 minutes and 22 minutes
respectively. Importantly, both islands are situated within a marine sanctuary
which ensures the protection of their beautiful fringing reefs that offer
exquisite swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving. So with the Fiji Swims you
get to experience the best of Fiji and get fit at the same time.
But for those unfamiliar with ocean swimming and the
concept of an 18km relay, don't worry its not 18km each, although some super fit
swimmers do compete solo or duo. Instead teams of five, each with their own
support boat and kayaker, share the distance with most teams choosing to rotate
swimmers every five to ten minutes. This allows for a reasonably quick pace
over the 18km as teams swim past some of the picture postcard tropical islands
of the Mamanuca group until the reach one of Fiji's favourite destinations,
Beachcomber Island.
Joining other swimmers from around the world who converge
on Fiji for the swims generates a sense of camaraderie which comes from doing
something together that is a little bit on the crazy side.
Race Director David Handley is ecstatic with the number of
Olympic greats coming to Fiji, especially US golden girl Natalie Coughlin who
broke a world record at the recent World Championships in Melbourne.
Interestingly, Coughlin has decided face the rigors and challenges of open water
swimming as a means of varying her pre Beijing training program rather than
compete in this year's US National Championships.
 This year's Fiji Swims are:
2 August 18km Fiji Swim - Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa to Beachcomber Island
Relay
4 August 2.6km Fiji Swim - Beachcomber Island
4 August 1km Fiji Swim - Treasure Island to Beachcomber Island
To entice you even more some of the resorts are offering
swimmers major discounts on accommodation and there is the chance to win six
nights free accommodation at the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa and Treasure Island. For more information visit
www.fijiswims.com |
