Olé To Ola For Swim From Indonesia To Papua New Guinea
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. On September 21st as part of his ongoing Unir el Mundo project, Matías Ola successfully swam on a crossing between Asia and Oceania, swimming across the border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
“The journey began at 6 am in the morning from Indonesia’s Muara Tami in the presence of the community of Jayapura, the Argentine Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Bocalandro, and local maritime police,” reported Germán Vaché. “Ola took a total of 9,500 swim strokes over 12 km in 28.7°C for 2 hours 22 minutes from the Bismark Sea to Wutung in Papua New Guinea. He brought the message of peace and union that took 3 years of planning to connect these continents.”
Ola writes about his Unir el Mundo project, “This challenge between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea was the fourth of the scheduled five inter-continental swims with the goal of bringing a message of unity and peace to the entire globe. The completion of the swim was made possible by an agreement between the national government of Indonesia and the authorities of the Province of Papua New Guinea to support such an initiative, creating a historical approach in a conflict zone.”
Ola’s fifth and final leg was being negotiated between the Jordanian and Egyptian authorities for a swim that connect Asia with Africa.
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Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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