Over the course of 18 continuous hours, from last Friday until Saturday evening, Jumeirah Beach witnessed a unique sporting event, "Around the World in 18 Hours," a swimming challenge organized by Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) in cooperation with Pirate Surf Rescue UAE under the current season of 2023-2024.

The unique event, held for the first time on the beaches of Dubai as a community initiative, highlights the importance of practicing open water swimming and showcases the stunning waterfront of Jumeirah Beach. The event achieved organizational and technical success, as the Dubai International Marine Club, with its administrative and technical expertise, provided all the requirements to accomplish the mission. The course extended a distance of 34 km and included the participation of more than 50 elite swimmers, both male and female, from the Pirates Surf Rescue Program - UAE.

Mohammed Abdulla Harib Al Falahi, Board Member and CEO at DIMC, along with Mohammed Al Marri, Director of Sports Affairs Department at DIMC, and Ahmed Hassan Al Suwaidi, Security Officer at DIMC, were keen to follow the event from its inception off Kite Beach on Friday night until they welcomed the arrivals of the participants on Saturday. Everyone, including the parents who supported their sons and daughters during the 18 hours of continuous swimming around the World Islands, celebrated the achievement and safe arrival of the participants.

Harib praised the great success achieved by this initiative from the wide segment of open water swimming enthusiasts in the Emirate of Dubai and constitutes an addition to the calendar of the Dubai International Marine Club, which always aspires to achieve diversity in activities and events. He emphasized that the club always seeks to create successful partnerships to serve the local community in the emirate.

He mentioned that organizing this initiative was a challenge for everyone, including the male and female swimmers participating, as well as the teams in the club, who worked tirelessly to make the event a success. He extended his sincere thanks to everyone involved and to the cooperating parties, most notably the Dubai Police and the Pirates Surf Rescue UAE, without whom this achievement would not have been possible. He credited their members' unparalleled enthusiasm for completing the initiative and arriving at the best time.

Candice Fanucci, the supervisor of the Pirates Surf Rescue UAE, expressed joy in accomplishing the mission of the community initiative by swimming around the World Islands for a distance of 34 km in 18 continuous hours. She emphasized that this would not have been possible without the exceptional organization by the teams from Dubai International Marine Club and its supporting partners.

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More than 50 male and female swimmers participated in the unique event, representing a group of diving, marine rescue, and open water swimming professionals from the Pirates Surf Rescue UAE, which has been based in Dubai since 2010. The male and female swimmers took turns to complete the task within 18 hours, covering a distance of 34 kilometers.

The event started from the starting point at Kite Beach in Jumeirah, precisely at eleven o'clock in the evening of last Friday, heading towards the path around the World Islands, swimming near the breakwater, and returning again to the finish line after 18 hours on the next day, Saturday.