PANJIM: Swimmers from Mumbai and Bengaluru dominated the 5 km and 10 km races on day one of the two-day, 8th Goa Swimathon event being held in the Bambolim Bay area, on Saturday.

The first three swimmers in the 10 km men’s category race were all from Mumbai and two Bengaluru swimmers bagged first positions in other races.

Shramith Srinivas, a 16-year-old Bengaluru swimmer won the 5 km race in the men’s category with a time of 1:20:39, while Maria Hoffmann from Berlin, Germany won the 5 km race in the women’s category with a time of 1:59:20. 

Likewise, Prabhat Koli of Mumbai (2:49:43) beat back a stiff challenge from his compatriot Shubham Pawar (2:49:56) by just a few seconds in the 10 km men’s category race, while Melanie Martinelli of Bengaluru won her 10 km women’s category race comfortably in 3:40:14, way ahead of her competitors.

Dhruv Batra, an above knee amputee from Bengaluru finished the 5km race with a very good time of 2:02:00 while Gopal Rao, also of Bengaluru, the oldest participant at age 72, finished his 5 km race in a very quick time of 2:16:31. 

Day two on Sunday will see races in the 250 metres, one km and 2 km races

. Spectators can watch the races from the Bambolim beach.