73rd IB 2nd Place in the Sarangani Swim Across the Bay

THE SWIM ACROSS SARANGANI BAY 2011 COMPETITION :: GLAN, Sarangani  - The first-ever swim across Sarangani Bay was on May 18, 2006, the first Sarangani Bay Festival, which was participated in by six teams.

“Now the event is on its 6th year in celebration of the Sarangani Bay Festival,” organizer Nemrod Butil said.

The province will celebrate the Sarangani Bay Festival on May 19 to 21, with the swim-across-the-bay on the second day (May 20) from 5:00am.

Swim-across-the-bay is a relay competition with team members both professional and amateurs swimming a distance of 15 kilometers from Tinoto Point in Maasim to Tango village in Glan.

To qualify, swimmers must be 14 years old or above. This year’s swimmers are mostly from Davao, South Cotabato, Koronadal City, General Santos City, Polomolok and local swimmers from Siguel and Maasim.

“This year, a new team from Kiamba (Sarangani) will join,” Butil said.

The idea to conquer the bay by human prowess was a brainchild of then swim manager Guiseppe Chew.

Chew described the race as “the longest open ocean marathon swimming competition in the country and probably in Asia.”

In the Philippines, related swimming competitions have been staged in Guimaras Strait (approximately 5km.), the body of water separating Guimaras and Panay islands, and in Samal Strait (5km.), separating Samal Island and mainland Davao.

Sarangani Bay’s biodiversity is twice richer than Carigara Bay in Northern Leyte, Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte, Bais Bay in Negros and Illana Bay in Northwestern Mindanao.

Sarangani Bay has been the passage for trade, businesses and social contacts with the Philippines’ Southernmost tip and neighboring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei for hundreds of years.

But in particular, the bay provided a safe route to Sangils of Northern Indonesia and established trade and social relations with the Blaan natives of Glan some five hundred years ago.

“Sarangani is as old as our very own race, Malay. When Ruy Lopez de Villalobos happened to reach this part of the ocean in their search for provision in 1543, his chroniclers wrote Sarangani to mean ‘This is our territory’ or ‘We stop here’ according to the Indonesian language,” Dr. Tranquilino Ruiz II said. Ruiz is a known local historian of Glan, Sarangani’s oldest town.

Among journalists who have been covering Sarangani Bay Festival, now becoming the biggest beach festival in Southern Philippines, the most challenging yet fulfilling event is covering the swim-across-the-bay from start to finish.

Prizes for this year’s swim are P50,000, P35,000, P25,000 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes and trophies for major winners.
All teams finishers will receive P5,000 with medals. (Russtum G. Pelima/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)