GSPN
OLYMPIANS OWN COCOS CROSSING
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By Patrick Lujan
He’s not a long distance swimmer, but Chris Duenas is still good enough to win the Cocos Crossing five-mile event. (photo by Jesse Castro)
The two male Guam swimmers that represented the island in the 2012 London Olympics came out victorious in Sunday morning’s 23rd Annual International Cocos Crossing.
21-year-old Chris Duenas broke away from his comfort zone – the sprints – and tried his hand at the five-mile event, winning it in his first attempt. Much to his surprise.
Fellow Olympian and close friend Benjamin Schulte, who is known for the long distance events, captured the 2.5-mile event in 41 minutes, three seconds.
“I was thinking about doing it before and it’s something I don’t normally do, so I thought I’d try it,” said Duenas. “I’ve been training for other meets, but not particularly for long distance. I wanted to try it and it worked out well. I wasn’t even planning on winning it so it’s great.”
Benjamin Schulte wins 2.5-miler
Duenas had Soujju Usui to swim with heading out to Cocos before pulling away at the turn, finishing off with a time of 1:30:36.
“The hardest thing was your site because you’re level with the water so it’s hard to gauge your location and the buoys and the current was pulling you,” Duenas added.
“One cool thing that happened was Ben just came over to our swim club (Manhoben Swim Club) and we both won. It’s really great to have him on our team now.”
Rione Ema was the first female to finish the five-mile event
The pair is preparing to compete in The World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain at the end of July.
“There’s really no downtime for swimming,” Duenas added. “We’re always training.”
Schulte ended Ken Barcinas’ three-year reign as the 2.5-mile king. Barcinas took second in 43:41.
NOTES: The 5-mile event starts and ends at the Malesso Pier while the 2.5 starts at Cocos Island and ends at the pier…young runner Justin Fell finished sixth overall in the 2.5-miler…233 swimmers competed in the 2.5-miler while 15 competed in the longer event….Duenas has competed in the 2.5-miler four previous times and never won but finished in the top five in all those races.
CERTIFICATES AND MEDALS CAN BE PICKED UP AT HORNET SPORTING GOODS AFTER MAY 28.
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
A spectator’s view of the distance that swimmers endured. (photo by Jesse Castro)
A large crowd of spectators gather around the finish line to witness 14-year-old Tommy Imazu complete the 2.5 mile swim from Cocos Island. (photo by Jesse Castro)
Ken Barcinas runs out of the water after completing the 2.5 mile swim from Cocos Island in 43 minutes, 41 seconds. (photo by Jesse Castro)
Benjamin Schulte finishes the last few yards of the 2.5 mile swim from Cocos Island in 41 minutes, 3 seconds. (photo by Jesse Castro)
17-year-old Rione Ema swims her last few yards of the five-miler to and from Cocos Island and is the first female in. (photo by Jesse Castro)
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