Swimjunkie Challenge, an open-water swimming series joined by local and international swimmers, is set to kick off at Long Beach in Barangay San Isidro, San Vicente, Palawan, in April 2026.
Hosted by The Hotel Elizabeth Resort & Villas and JB Multisports, both owned by the Fernando family, the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the executives of the two organizations, local officials, and the Swimjunkie team was signed on September 11 at the said hotel.
The MOA signing was graced by Municipal Mayor Ramir Pablico, Vice Mayor Menchie Libarra-Silagan, Municipal Tourism Officer Lucy Panagsagan, Swimjunkie co-founder Coach Betsy Medalla, and hotel executives including Chairwoman Elizabeth Salonga Fernando, and her sons, Joel Fernando and Jerico Fernando. The event officially sealed the partnership, marking the beginning of an extensive preparation period.
According to Jerico Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of JB Music, bringing the long-awaited event to San Vicente felt natural, both as a sports enthusiast and as the one managing their business, JB Multisport.
“As a triathlete and marathon and cyclist in the family, and JB Sports as the business that I run for the family, it is just natural for us to be able to bring all of these things and bring well-organized and well-accepted and active participated event here is San Vicente,” Fernando said during the press conference held at their hotel.
He further said that the Swimjunkie Challenge is just one of many activities the Fernando family plans to bring to San Vicente, aiming to attract guests and tourists to Long Beach, particularly to their hotel, as the majority of participants are expected to stay at The Hotel Elizabeth Resort & Villas, just a few meters from the sand.
“This is just one of the very few or more activities event the Fernando family will bring here in San Vicente.”
The local government of San Vicente, through Mayor Ramir Pablico, fully supports the upcoming event, saying it could also help promote tourism in the municipality.
“Excited na po ang local government next year and this is also ma-promote po natin ang Long Beach in San Vicente at iba pang magagandang tanawin,” Mayor Pablico said during the presscon.
Furthermore, Coach Betsy Medalla of Swimjunkie stated that, aside from celebrating their 10th anniversary next year, the highlight of the event is the introduction of San Vicente as their newest destination.
“Swimjunkie challenge, we are actually celebrating our 10th year anniversary next year and one of our highlights is the introduction of our newest destination which is San Vicente Long Beach. So, we’re really excited to bring open-water swimmers po down here in San Vicente.”
“After 10 years we’re expecting big turn out and we hope to really push Long beach for next year,” she further said.
The event includes three race categories: a 2.5 km swim loop, a 5 km swim loop, and a 10 km multiple-loop swim. Coach Medalla explained the layout of the swim, saying:
“The swim course, one of the plans right now is to have two loops, one is 2.5k and the other loop will be the 5k, and so we will do multiples of that for the 10k to finish. A single loop for the 2.5k swimmers, and maybe a double loop for the 5k.”
When asked about the safety of the event, Coach Medalla emphasized that the Swimjunkie Challenge “is the safest and most professional open-water series in the country.”
She also added that the safety of participants is their top priority, with emergency boats on standby and medics stationed at every key location.
“We will also have emergency boats whose role of course is to react during emergency. One of the characteristics of Swimjunkie is you do not sea boats moving around – that is very unique in Swimjunkie challenge because boats cause waves and when a 10k swimmer is tired even a small wave can cause problems. So, we like to minimize the mechanically created waves. And then in specific places where we have identified currents or people go of course – we have marshals on boats; those are the ones that follow or call swimmers’ attention to come back to the course.”
The event is expected to attract around 150 swimmers from both local and international locations, with numbers likely to increase during registration as Medalla said that the Long Beach is one of their number one selling point.
