By MELODY COSEP and BEVERLY PAOYON
GLAN, Sarangani (May 11, 2015) – A Bohol-based lawyer fought strong current
...s Sunday (May 10) in the first-ever solo swim of Sarangani Bay from Maasim to Sumbang Point.
Atty. Ingemar Macarine covered a distance of 12.95 kilometers in 5:55 hours. He said it was one of his most difficult swims.
Strong currents kept pulling him off course so he had to change direction more than 16 times.
“Nakaluha ko ganina kay na reach nako ang Sumbang Point kay sa swim may possibility nga dili ma reach ang target,” Macarine said.
Sumbang Point is a place in Glan where Spanish navigator Ruy Lopez de Villalobos sailed in 1543 in search for provisions according to historical accounts.
“Na feel daw niya na maski unsa nya langoy kusog daw kayo ang sulog,” said Tres Besana, videographer of Sarangani Information Office.
The average speed of Macarine, a pioneer in solo channel swimming in the Philippines, was 2.65 kph with a brief stop every 30 minutes for energy drink or feeding. After covering 6.79 kilometers in three hours, his speed increased to 2.40 kph.
He constantly used freestyle and had no difficulty with his swimming techniques. He was calm and seemed just like practicing throughout the course.
Despite finishing the swim at Sumbang Point instead of the original route in barangay Tango, a few kilometers away, Macarine still considers this swim a successful one because his intention was really to swim from Maasim to any point in Glan.
Atty. Macarine started the swim by reading the Bible and by praying.While swimming, he said, he kept repeating Psalm 23 in his mind, and the thought of his wife and kids waiting for him to finish at the other side of the bay.He was escorted by two boats. A small one carrying his navigator and a bigger boat loaded with mediamen, rescue team and staff of the Provincial Capitol.
His swim was meant to promote tourism in Sarangani Bay and for clean seas and beaches.
“The swim this morning was my own little way of contributing to the Sarbay tourism of your province,” he said. “Thank you to the provincial government especially to Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon and Ma’am Michelle Solon for sponsoring the swim. Without your support, this event would not have been made possible.”
Sarangani Bay’s strong currents have been bugging swimmers who join Sarbay Festival’s Swim-Across-the-Bay Competition each year.
The fastest time logged is 3:36:46 hours achieved in 2014. This swim relay of five members is one of the most awaited events of Sarbay to be held on May 15-16.
The Swim-across-the-Bay is a brainchild of former Sarangani agriculture chief and marine biologist Giuseppe Chew.“When I made my suggestion to the floor when we had our first meeting to conduct the Sarangani Bay Festival, everyone was laughing at me,” Chew said. “The suggestion was almost killed.”
Chew said the Swim-across-the-Bay “turned out to be the best activity then and highly successful.”
He said it is “the longest open ocean swimming competition in the Philippines and probably in Asia.”
“Who would ever believe historic Sarangani Bay (mentioned in Antonio Pigafetta’s epic journal of Magellan’s expedition), the deepest bay in the Philippines, can be conquered with human prowess?” Chew said.
Michelle Solon, chair of Sarangani Provincial Tourism Council and Region XII Tourism Council hope that the solo swim Of Atty. Macarine would bring more attention to Sarbay. “Atty. Macarine has his advocacies. He is advocating for clean seas. We in Sarangani have the same objective,” Solon said.
In 2006, then Board Member Rommel Tomas Falgui authored a resolution at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan making Sarangani Bay Festival a tool for environmental awareness.
Governor Solon echoed the advocacy of Macarine and noted that Sarangani Bay is a protected seascape through Presidential Decree 756 declared in 1996.
“We are happy that the advocacy of Atty. Macarine is also for clean seas, clean waters, clean beaches and the protection of the environment,” the governor added.
A Surigaonon by birth, Atty. Macarine is now based in Tubigon, Bohol. He is currently the Election Officer of the Municipality of Tubigon. He has finished at least four marathons and four triathlons here and abroad.
Atty. Macarine is the first Filipino to swim from Alcatraz Island Penitentiary to San Francisco City, California, USA (2.7km in 1hour on April 7, 2014).
Before his Sarangani Bay swim, the latest in his 10 long-distance swimming feats was the Santa Fe, Bantayan Island to San Remigio, Mainland Cebu swim with a distance of 19.99 km in 7 hours and 45 minutes last April 12, 2015. The swim was to promote climate change awareness and tourism in San Remigio.
Atty. Macarine follows the Marathon Swimming Federation Rules (such as no floating aids of whatever kind, regular swim suits only, and no physical contact with another human being or with the boats).
Among his future plans is a solo swim of the 10km-San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge to Bay Bridge on May 22, 2015. (Melody Cosep and Beverly Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
