MANILA, Philippines – Swimmers in the Philippines began on Friday an attempt to wrest the Guinness world record for most people swimming in a 24-hour relay.
The Great Pinoy Peace and Unity Swim event hopes to get over 6,000 swimmers--students, parents, teachers, celebrities, athletes, artists, among others--to swim non-stop in a relay for 24 hours at the Diliman Preparatory School on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
The event started at exactly 4 p.m., and after 3 hours and 26 minutes, 711 swimmers had already joined the relay.
ABS-CBN's TJ Manotoc said the swimmers were on track to beat the record set by Swim for Children (Italy) for most people swimming one length of a pool in a 24-hour relay.
The Swim for Children event had a total of 5,028 participants completing a minimum distance of 60 feet or 18.3 meters in 24 hours. The event was held in Padovanuoto, Padova, Italy.
Among the people who joined the 24-hour relay on Friday were former Olympian and amputee Pete Lozada and the event’s oldest swimmer Carlos Levica.
“Masaya ako para sa sport ng swimming na ginawa natin ito. Sana makatulong Ito sa pag-promote ng sport,” said Lozada, who has an amputated right leg.
“Matagal na kong swimmer. Sumama ako dito para tumulong mabreak ang record,” said Levica.
Police officer Benjy Magalong was the first to jump into the pool and begin the record attempt.
“Masaya ako nakasama ako dito. Matagal na kaming nagpa-practice para mapabilisan naming ang oras,” he said.
Also invited to join the event are Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Diliman Preparatory School President and former Sen. Nikki Coseteng said they organized the event to promote swimming and help the Philippines' bid for a gold medal in the Olympics.
“Ito ay isang parang kwitis lang na sinindihan namin para masdumami ang makilala sa swimming bilang alternatiba sa sports na kanilang ginagawa. Higit sa lahat, tayo'y dapat magkaroon ng medalya, gintong medalya [sa Olympics],” she said.-- With reports from TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News, and The Philippine Star
No comments:
Post a Comment