More than 300 swimmers complete the swim between l’Illa and the Port of Benidorm

More than 300 swimmers have participated this Sunday in the twenty-second edition of the Popular Swimming Crossing l'Illa-Port of Benidorm, in which Miguel Bou, from the Vila Swim Club, and Ángela Cerdán, from the Master Naturalswim, have won for the third consecutive year with the first places in the general male and female categories, respectively, while the Finisher Sports Club has won the prize for participation, with a total of 14 registered.

The Councillor for Sports, Javier Jordá, together with other members of the Municipal Corporation, including the also regional deputy José Ramón González de Zárate, have received the winners, and the rest of the participants, on the Mal Pas beach, which from early in the morning has been filled with people to watch this event live.

After having to postpone the race for a week due to the poor sea conditions last Sunday, this time the crossing was finally able to take place in “optimal” conditions for the enjoyment of all the swimmers, as most of them pointed out when they reached the finish line.

The participants boarded the ‘Golondrina’ at 7.30 a.m. which took them to the island, where the Councillor for Sports was in charge of sounding the horn to start the race. Equipped with an identifying orange cap, the control chip and the obligatory location buoy, the swimmers gave their best to cover the nearly 2 nautical miles – equivalent to about 3.6 kilometres – that separate the isle from the beach.

The first to reach the finish line on Mal Pas beach was young Miguel Bou Bernabeu, from the Vila Swim swimming club, in a time of 43 minutes and 26 seconds, beating the next place finisher by just over four minutes, Antonio Rodríguez García, from the Montemar swimming club (47’49’’), while César Parra, from C.E. Eldense, came in third place with a time of 49’45’’.
In the general women’s classification, Ángela Cerdán, from CN Master Naturalswim, won again with a convincing time of 52 minutes and 74 seconds. After her, Eliana Sotelo, from CN Master Naturalswim, arrived in 55’42’’, followed by Melania Marín Rueda, from CN Albacete, with 59’42’’.
In the local classifications, Vicente Solbes, from Gladiators Benidorm, came first in the men's category, with 50'11'', followed by Jordi Guirado and David Navarro; while in the local women's category, the first classified was also Melania Marín Rueda, who came ahead of Ángeles López Ortega and Laura Díaz Macia.

The councillor Javier Jordá was in charge of presenting the trophies to the first three classified in each category, together with the queens of the Festes Majors Patronals of 2024, Valentina Almodóbar Climent and Laia Zamora Picó, and their courts of honour.

The mayor also gave recognition to the collaborating organisations and entities, such as the Red Cross, the Beach Section of the Local Police, the Benidorm Nautical Club, RA Benidorm, Cerbuques SL, Deportes y Aventuras Stones SL, Carlos Serrano Actividades Acuáticas SL, Coca-Cola, Caixa Callosa and the Horizontes Scout Group, in gratitude for their support of the event. He also publicly expressed his appreciation for the other individuals and fans who collaborated in the event, including thirty sea kayaks and a dozen motor boats that accompanied the swimmers throughout the course.

The final classifications can be compared here.