DOHA (Qatar): The first leg of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series on March 13 will be held at the Katara Beach.
The FINA event is an annually staged elite-level competition organised in over 9 locations and takes places in either fresh water or sea.
France will send the biggest contingent to the Qatari capital, including 20 swimmers and 11 officials. Italy will have 13 athletes in both the races along with five officials.
Since 2007, FINA decided to focus the World Cup on the 10km distance only, as a direct consequence of the introduction of the 10km Marathon Swim into the Olympic programme in 2008.
Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) will host long-distance swimmers, who will compete over 10km course.
A total of 99 swimmers – 66 male and 33 female athletes – along with 65 team officials from 27 countries will participate in the season-opening meet.
The competition of the 10km swim will be organized on a 2.000m lap course (left shoulder turns) and the swimmers must swim in five laps.
QSA under the guidance of Ministry of Public Health will organize the event by following strict COVID-19 protocols to ensure health and safety of athletes, officials and all other stakeholders. The athletes will remain in bio-secure zones throughout the event.
