Sarah Celestine and Nadia Noël-Plouhinec will be representing St. Martin at the first Aqua Walking International Open in Martinique February 3-4.
MARIGOT--For the first time in the French Antilles, Martinique is organising the International Aqua Walking Open which will take place Saturday, February 3, and Sunday, February 4, on Anse Meunier Beach in Sainte-Anne.
Some 200 competitors are expected, including two athletes from St. Martin, Sarah Célestine and Nadia Noël-Plouhinec, who will compete in the 50 metres solo single paddle. The event also includes hiking and trail running. In addition to three clubs from Martinique participating, there is one from Marie Galante, one from St. Martin, an Italian delegation, several metropolitan clubs from the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts and the entire French team (Equipe de France), technical staff and referees. The programme for Saturday has two individual events over 50m or 200m, a pair event over 400m and a relay event over 4x50m. The most experienced competitors will have a long hill trail coupled with a running race on Sunday. For this first participation, St. Martin will be represented by Sarah Célestine, holder of the Federal Longe Côte Brevet since last December and by Nadia Noël-Plouhinec, member of JLCA ( Je Longe la Côte aux Antilles) since the association was formed. Both will participate in the 50 meters solo single paddle (25 metres round trip), essentially a speed event. The objective, for this first trip outside the territory, is to give visibility to St. Martin in an international competition. The aqua walking club based in Orient Bay was first created in 2019 and since then has continued to gain followers, and there are now around fifty members. This first trip was organised with the financial support of the Comité Guadeloupéen de Randonnée Pédestre and the Collectivité of St. Martin. To follow and encourage Sarah and Nadia live, go to the JLCA Facebook page on Saturday, February 3, from 8:00am.
