4th Olango Challenge to include relay race

4th Olango Challenge to include relay race
By Mars G. Alison
Cebu Daily News
March 25, 2011

As what has become its tradition, the Olango Challenge boasts of a new and major development when its 4th edition gets under way on April 30 at the Tambuli East beach resort in Lapu-Lapu City.

Back in 2008, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in partnership with the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association (PASA) organized the first open-water swimming competition in the country dubbed the Olango Challenge. It is PBSP’s fund-raising activity for the benefit of Olango residents.

Now on its fourth year, the Olango Challenge “Swim for Nature, Swim for the Future” has once again become a trailblazer by holding the first relay category in an open-water competition.

One of the swimming competition’s significant development is the addition of the 2Kx3 relay in the competitive category in male and female divisions.

PASA’s Alexander Reyes said the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international governing body of swimming, has started incorporating the relay component in open-water swimming competitions, the first of which was held in Shanghai, China.

Aside from the addition of the relay competition, this year’s swim route is one kilometer longer than last year.

Last year, the event raised P1.7 million, most of it coming from the pledges.