The annual Alcúdia Xtreme Swim Open Water competition, now in its eighth year, will race across the Badia de Pollença from Platja Formentor to the Platja de Sant Pere (near Mal Pas), Alcúdia, this Saturday, September 6th. The swim of a good 7 kms (5 miles) across pretty much open waters is described as being of “average difficulty”, but I would have thought a good swimmer would need a good 3 hours to make the crossing, plus a heck of a good condition. Good luck, if you want to have a go.

Participants will meet on the day in Alcúdia at 07h00 at the Pavelló Municipal d’Alcúdia. The swim will start at 09h00 from the beach outside the Hotel Formentor. There is an entry fee of 13 € and bookings have to be made in advance. The closing date is today, September 4th. The swim is grouped into 6 categories: under-25, male and female; over-25, male and female; handicaped; and locals (i. e. amateurs). The five winners of each category will claim 500 €, 300 €, 150 €, 100 € and 50 € each in prize moneys, respectively. Telephone or fax: 971.897.103; eMail: acifre@alcudia.net. For more information, check here.

The weather forecast for Saturday is given as partly cloudy, with temperatures reaching 30º C. I suspect that water temperatures should be around 23º C, but I would not like you to hold me to that. There was a green flag on the beach of Sant Pere yesterday, in case you want to know.

The photo was taken near Alcúdia, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 3rd, 2008. The time was 14:54:38.