700 turn out for annual charity swim around the Burj Al Arab

DUBAI // The thought of a gentle dip in the clear blue waters around the world-famous Burj Al Arab brings a warm glow to most people.

But the idea of trying to swim a 1,600-metre course around the world-famous landmark in about half an hour is enough to put most fun bathers right off their stroke.

Nevertheless, that is exactly what more than 700 hardy swimmers attempted when they joined the annual Wild Wadi Burj Al Arab Swim on Friday morning.

The event, now in its 12th year, was held to raise funds for Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), with organisers confident of hitting the Dh275,000 target for the day.

The event was split into two sections – a 1,600-metre race for the more serious competitors, and an 800-metre race labelled a social swim.

“I feel fantastic after winning because this is such a great course and race,” said Thomas Dalgarno, 16, a pupil at Jumeirah College from Aberdeen, in Scotland, who won the 1,600-metre event in a time of 23 minutes and 11 seconds.

It was the first time that Thomas had taken part in the Wild Wadi event, and he is already eyeing next year’s competition.

“I’m surprised I won because there were a lot of really good competitors taking part.”

Gwen Van Beek, 18, a gap-year student from near Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, was the first woman to cross the line after 23 minutes, 47 seconds.

“I trained about nine times a week, so I was really well prepared,” she said. “It feels great to have finished where I did but I was confident that I would do well.”

In the week before the race she focused on long-distance swims to build up stamina.

“The toughest bit was having to stand up and run in the shallow water in front of the Burj and then get back in for the straight.”

Emirati Olympian Obaid Al Jasmi, 32, was not too disappointed that he finished third after a time of 23 minutes, 23 seconds.

“For me, it was more of a case of supporting such a good cause,” said Mr Al Jasmi, who represented the UAE in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

“I had done a pentathlon a couple of days ago and was still feeling a little sore and I’m currently in the middle of training for a GCC competition next Thursday, but I’m not using that as an excuse.

“I spoke with my coach before and the plan was just to take it nice and relaxed.”

There was heartbreak in the 1,600 metre race for 15-year-old Abdulah Zeljo, a Bosnian pupil at Dubai English Speaking College, as he finished second in 23 minutes, 13 seconds.

“I was winning as we were coming out of the water, but then I slipped and Thomas overtook me and I came in second,” he said.

Germans Kris and Kathi Karcher have taken part a number of times before.

“We just wanted to do it more for the charity because it’s an important cause,” said Kris, 28. “We didn’t do anything special to train apart from my normal triathlon training and Kathi’s basketball.”

“Today was the first time I had done such a long swim,” said Kathi, 30.

Steve Hines, 52, from Idaho, in the United States, took part in the 800-metre social swim.

“It was the first time I had done it and was a real spur-of-the-moment thing because my wife and I were looking to do a half marathon until we saw this race,” he said.

Chris Perry, general manager of Wild Wadi, which organised the event, said he was delighted at how its popularity had grown over the years.

“When we first started we had about 100 swimmers take part and now we have over 700,” he said.

“The world-famous location, coupled with the fact that the weather is perfect, and we get such a great mix of people and families make this such a special event.

“We have set ourselves a target of raising Dh275,000 for MSF today and hopefully we can achieve that.”

nhanif@thenational.ae