Barcolana nuota by Dolomia is presented: already 178 participants

A 1,300-metre swim in Bacino di San Giusto will be held on October 6: it’s the 5th edition of Barcolana Nuota by Dolomia which was presented today. The long-distance swimming challenge takes place right in the city centre of Trieste, just a few steps away from Piazza Unità. Invented by amateur Carlo Tevarotto in 2015, it is organized by the sailing club Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano (SVBG) and Unione Sportiva Triestina Nuoto and held on the Sunday before the big regatta in Trieste, as one of the many events at sea of Barcolana51 presented by Generali.

Barcolana Nuota has been growing significantly over the years, sharing the spirit of the world’s largest regatta: amateur open swimming enthusiasts compete next to swimming champions, supported by a large crowd cheering them all along the Rive seafront. To date 178 swimmers (126 men, 52 women) have already signed up and 20 sport teams will be represented at the start line..

Participants are expected to come from all over Italy; enrolled foreign participants come from Slovenia, Croatia, Finland, Holland and Austria and are ready for this unique challenge, which is literally a “group swim” that goes from Molo IV to Scala Reale, in the water off Piazza Unità. Barcolana Nuota is an important part of the Barcolana sea celebrations, it is a a relevant event for the world of sport as well as a story of self-sacrifice, self-challenge and effort. You can sign up onle at www.barcolana.it ( under section “sea”). A big celebration and many prizes await you, in true Barcolana style.

Mitja Gialuz, the chairman of SVBG, stated “We have invested a lot in this event. Barcolana Nuota shares our spirit, our identity and our love for the sea. It’s a growing event: having already around 180 swimmers enrolled for the competition is an excellent and satisfying result. We love this event as we love seeing professional sportspeople competing with sports lovers, children and professional swimmers. And we love the fact that professional and amateur swimmers, triathletes, divers, water polo players, sea rescuers and also the harbormaster will, with this competition, celebrate together the big love for the sea that unites us. We have passionately committed ourselves to this event, because we believe that Barcolana Nuota by Dolomia can still grow a lot, with its original spirit shared with many friends and swimming lovers”
“US Triestina Nuoto – said swimming team manager Nicola Cassio– is proud to organize this event with SVBG, sharing Barcolana’s development goal. From the very beginning, we’ve been supporting this event, which takes us of Triestina Nuoto back to our origins, to the sea: the common element that unites us all, sailors, swimmers and the entire city of Trieste.”

COURSE AND PRIZES – As with last year’s course, Barcolana Nuota’s open water athletes will swim for 1,300 metres, starting from Molo IV at 12.00 pm. The course , with its first mark in Bacino San Giorgio at the end of Molo Audace, will stretch  past Bacino di San Giusto (mark opposite Magazzino 42 and final part along Molo Bersaglieri and the seashore) and finish in front of Scala Reale. It will take the fastest swimmers about 15 minutes to reach the finish line, but other participants will cross the finish line an hour or more later.  The prize-giving ceremony will take place at 2 pm on the same day: medals will be given to the first 3 male and female champions, to the male and female winner of each of the thirteen age categories and there will be many draw prizes.

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS – All open water swimming lovers born before 31 December 2009 can participate: a valid medical certificate for competitive and non-competitive sports activities is required. Foreign athletes will have to follow the current medical rules of their own country. This year, also many triathletes will participate, thanks to the partnership between Barcolana and Let’s Go Triathlon, FVG’s main event for this specialty and event partner of Barcolana thanks to the collaboration with the Regional Sports Council.

ENROLLMENT AND PROGRAMME – You can sign up to this event online until Friday 4 October at a cost of € 15,00. The first 100 participants will be given a special gadget, in addition to those found in the traditional gift bag which this year will be a sports bag, a t-shirt and a customized swim cap.. You can also sign up on Saturday 5 October (from 2 to 7 pm at the Infopoint Barcolana in Piazza Unità) and Sunday 6 October (from 9 to 10.30 am near the starting line at Molo IV) at an extra charge (€25,00). On those same day participating athletes can register and withdraw their competition kit, including a microchip that will show real-time ranking. A briefing is scheduled for Sunday 6 October at 11.30 am (at Molo IV), and the competition will start at 12 pm with a big group dive. The race will be visible from land and covered with live commentary.  The prize-giving ceremony will take place at 2 pm.

THE 2018 EDITION – In 2018, almost 300 people took part in the competition: a photo finish victory was scored by the Triestina Nuoto champion Enrico Cardinale, who won “at home” and outran, for a few hundredths of a second, the European open water swimming champion Marco Urbani. The champion Dino Schorn, born in 1968, arrived in third place, while the first female place went to the promising Giulia Grasso from Padua, bronze medalist  at the Italian 2018 Open Water championship.
The winner of Barcolana Nuota took less than 14 minutes to cross the finish line.