Mariana Moura Santos, Paulo Sousa and Francisco Maldonado Freitas will swim an 18-kilometre crossing between the beaches of Batata (Lagos) and Carvoeiro (Lagoa), on the 25th of August.
This crossing will serve as preparation for the Double Crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar that the two swimmers from Portimão – Mariana and Paulo – want to complete in 2013.
The crossing between the two beaches will also be a way of drawing attention to the activities of the O2 association, of which Paulo Sousa is the technical director.
O2 was created two years ago by a very heterogeneous group of people, in terms of ages and professions, encompassing various sports and even cultural projects, "to work with people who don't normally play sports", such as very young children, the adults and the disabled, as explained by Graça de Sousa, president of the board.
The main objective, adds Graça de Sousa, «was not the competition». “Each project and activity should be accessible to everyone and then, those who could afford it, could compete, namely in INATEL championships and official competitions,” he said.
In adapted swimming, the first athlete, trained "from scratch", was Filipe Santos, a swimmer with Down Syndrome who in these two years has been crowned champion several times and has broken several national records. The idea, says Paulo Sousa, “was that Filipe Santos would be a sort of decoy for other children and young people with disabilities”. Things went well, but for bureaucratic reasons, the O2 association was prevented from working with the disabled.
Projects and misunderstandings
In the open air, the association developed the modalities of swimming in open waters (sea), canoeing and free flying. The objective of O2 was also to streamline the municipal swimming pool of Mexilhoeira Grande, opening it up to more activities, from swimming for various levels and conditions, to body pump, Pilates, physiotherapy. But several misunderstandings have prevented O2 from using municipal facilities.
On the part of the Portimão Council, which manages the Mexilhoeira Grande Swimming Pool, the association was only authorized to advance with the masters, the veteran swimmers, having been assigned the worst time, between 20:20 and 21:00. But even so, “in one season, we got three podiums. Two of these master swimmers had never before swum in competition, but during a training season they reached the podium».
The masters training takes place under the direction of Paulo Sousa, who has a degree in physical education and is an employee of the Chamber. But, as he was not allowed to accumulate his duties as a municipal sports coach with training, Paulo ends up training the O2 masters as a volunteer.
Graça de Sousa points out that, with three municipal swimming pools in Portimão, there is «perfectly space for two associations to work in the municipality», O2 and Portinado, which are more dedicated to competition, swimming and water polo. But this has not been the understanding of official entities.
At the top of the projects of the O2 association, is the bet on swimming for masters. This class is intended for swimmers over 25 years old, but Paulo Sousa, following the rules of the INATEL competitions, even wanted to start working with people from 14 years of age onwards. "It would be a very funny thing: a 14-year-old kid teaming up with an 80-year-old swimmer."
Canoeing is still another bet, but only on the more playful side, tours and improvement. For this, O2 has the collaboration of Professor Fortes, a pioneer of canoeing in the Algarve, and Mário Ferro, another passionate about the sport.
«In addition to the tours, we also wanted to provide social support, giving children from institutions such as Catraia or others the opportunity to practice the sport, in the context of school sports. This project will move forward, contacts have already been made, but we need a sponsor».
In adapted swimming, Paulo Sousa guarantees that there are children with disabilities interested, for more excellent example of Filipe Santos. There are still plans for pure swimming, but this depends on the availability of facilities.
Triathlon and the double crossing of Gibraltar
Another bet is on triathlon. For this, the O2/Malibu team was created, which supports the young triathlete from Portimo Nuno Fernandes, which is preparing to compete, in August, in Salzburg (Austria), in the triathlon event «Iron Man». But the idea is, «with Nuno Fernandes as a reference, to open the triathlon to everyone».
Triathlon, because it includes running, cycling and swimming, is still linked to water, the domain par excellence of the O2 association. But the free flying activity, in which O2 offers flying and school baptisms, has more to do with another element, the air. Also last Saturday, at Cordoama beach (Vila do Bispo), there was a free flight baptism session.
Going back to water, swimming in open water, especially in the sea, is another project that O2 has been developing. For this reason, O2 will promote, on August 18th, the Prova de Mar de Alvor, which this year will have the particularity of also helping the Algarve's Food Bank against Hunger.
It is also in the open water swimming project that joins the 18-kilometer crossing that the three swimmers – Mariana Santos, Paulo Sousa and Francisco Freitas – will make on August 25, connecting the Batata and Carvoeiro beaches. These 18 kilometers are just an appetizer for the Double Crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar that Mariana, Paulo and Francisco want to do in 2013.
Paulo Sousa had already planned to complete the adventure of cross the Strait of Gibraltar by swimming, coming and going, between Europe and North Africa. But despite the campaign launched, he lacked enough money to pay the expenses of such an adventure. Therefore, with the help of his friend Mariana Santos, a young woman from Praia do Carvoeiro who works in London, next year Paulo Sousa hopes to finally be able to make this risky double crossing.
“O2 is a new association, it doesn't want to steal anyone's place, but we want to do different things. Therefore, having as references athletes who have already distinguished themselves, such as Filipe Santos, in adapted swimming, Nuno Fernandes, in triathlon, or the pair that will swim across, we have been attracting people of all ages, professions. , origins», comments Graça de Sousa, president of the association.
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