Gaitan, Bish crowned as Semana Nautica Ocean Swimmers of the Year
The final results are in and Andrea Bish and Miles Gaitan have been crowned the Ocean Swimmers of the Year for the 2018 Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival.
The Ocean Swimmers of the Year will be recognized and awarded trophies on Thursday, August 23 at Reef & Run’s post-race party. There will be live music on the beach from Robin Howe and dinner available from Los Ondas. All are welcome to attend the awards ceremony taking place around 7:30 p.m.
The Semana Nautica Ocean Swimmer of the Year is determined by a points system based on the open-water swimming races during the festival. To qualify, competitors must swim in the Mullen & Henzell 1-Mile Swim, at least one of the two 1-mile races at Reef and Run, and either the Mullen & Henzell 3-mile race or 6-mile swim.
Gaitan was dominant on his way to the title. The 18 year old bested the field in all three of his races: both the Mullen & Henzell 1- and 3-mile swims and the Reef & Run 1-Mile swim on July 5. Matt Treadway was second in the standings after recording top-3 finishes in three races including a victory at Reef & Run on June 28.
Bish, at 15 years old, is the youngest athlete to win the Ocean Swimmer of the Year competition. She started out by winning the Mullen & Henzell 1-Mile Swim and clinched the title by locking in second-place results at the the Mullen & Henzell 3-Mile Swim and Reef & Run’s 1-mile race.
Bish held off runner-up Karen Schultz by a fingernail. In the 3-mile race, Bish finished eight seconds ahead of Schultz, a former winner of the Ocean Swimmer of the Year contest in 2015.
Overall, nine males and seven females qualified for the Ocean Swimmer of the Year standings. Matt Treadway and Schultz were runners-up. The Semana Nautica Ocean Swimmer of the Year point series was introduced in 2013.