When we arrived at Matapalo Rock, I thought about renaming the famous landmark – at least for this one day – either Whirlpool or Maytag: it was like the spindle of a washing machine, and the water was on the agitate cycle.
The Cruce Golfo Dulce open-water swim competition quietly happened this weekend without much fanfare and just 30 participants in the featured race, but its effect on an area starving for economic stimulus could be huge.
The Cruce Aguas Abiertas Golfo Dulce event began on a sunny Saturday morning with the 1.5- and 5-kilometer races. On Sunday, swimmers will return to the water to cross the gulf in a 14-kilometer swim for the first time in the event's history.
A 14-kilometer marathon swim across Golfo Dulce will take place September 12. Twenty-year-old José Manuel Cullell swam across the gulf in early July to test the course.
