Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club hosted the final race of the Garmin BSJ Open Water Swimming Championships on Wednesday 4th August in Salina Bay.
The Swimming Championships consisted of a total of six races, five of which consisted of a two kilometre course, and one covered four kilometres.
The overall and age-group winners in the Male and Female categories were those swimmers with the best accumulated times in five (including the 4K event) of the six races.
The final race of the Championships was a two kilometre race which was won by Andre Camilleri and Sarah Demicoli respectively. In second and third place for the Male Category were Luca Vella and Caine Schembri, whilst in the Female Category, Maya Schembri Rodgers and Hailee Buttigieg took the honours.
The final Championship classification saw Luca Vella and Sarah Demicoli being crowned 2021 Open Water Champions.
For Under 17 swimmer Luca Vella, this is the first championship title of his career. Vella started swimming from the age of four but it was only in the past four years that he focused attention on open water swimming. Last year Vella, finished the Championships in third place. This year Vella performed consistently well. In all races he and female champion Sarah Demicoli practically swam together for the whole duration of each race.
Demicoli, proved that she remains the open water female to beat. This is Demicoli’s seventh title and there was little doubt that she would be a front runner for this year’s title once again having asserted her position from the very first race. Nevertheless, second placed Maya Schembri Rodgers is one to watch as are Nirvana Micallef, Roanna Farrugia and Hailee Buttigieg who consistently featured in the top placings of the Championships.
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club’s Open Water Swimming commitments for the 2021 season will come to a close with the annual Garmin BSJ Malta – Gozo – Malta and Gozo – Malta Swimming Competitions which will take place on Saturday 28th August.
Commenting at the end of the Championships, Birkirkara St Joseph’s Secretary General Euchar Camilleri expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of the Championships, which was a sell out in spite of the necessary Covid-19 protocols in place to ensure a safe racing environment. He continued to express his gratitude towards the stakeholders that contributed to the organisation of this event, mainly – Garmin Malta, Naxxar Local Council and Transport Malta.
Garmin BSJ Open Water Swimming Championship Race 6 Results
| Placing | Males | Females |
| 1st | Andre Camilleri (25:08) | Sarah Demicoli (26:18) |
| 2nd | Luca Vella (26:11) | Maya Schembri Rodgers (27:06) |
| 3rd | Caine Schembri (26:17) | Hailee Buttigieg (28:42) |
Garmin BSJ Open Water Swimming Championships Overall Results
| Placing | Males | Females |
| 1st | Luca Vella (2:40.00)* | Sarah Demicoli (2:40.51) |
| 2nd | Caine Schembri (2:46.55) | Maya Schembri Rodgers (2:48.16) |
| 3rd | Kurt John Grech (2:59.56) | Nirvana Micallef (2.52.51) |
*refers to total Championships accumulated time
Photo Credit: Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club / Alex Turnbull