TUARAN: July 5, 2026
Debutantes Georgene Ee Jern Wee of Malaysia and Vietnam’s Nhat Lam Quang emerged as the overall female and male champions, respectively, at Oceanman Kota Kinabalu.
With their victories, Ee and Quang, together with the top 10 finishers in each age group, earned tickets to the Oceanman World Final Championship in Miches, Dominican Republic, from November 9 to 15, 2026.
They will also be joined by 36-year-old visually impaired swimmer Faiq Adnan and his coach and fellow competitor, Dato’ Ooi Win Juat.
Ooi has been coaching and guiding Faiq since he was just eight years old.
Following the overwhelming success of the race, the organisers have decided to continue staging the event at Shangri-La Rasa Ria next year, instead of ending it this year as initially planned under a three-year agreement.
Race director Azura Zainol Abidin officially confirmed the decision.
The decision was welcomed by Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer Julinus Jeffrey Jimit, who said the race supports STB’s efforts to establish Sabah as Malaysia’s premier adventure sports tourism destination.
The extension of Oceanman in Sabah next year cements its status as a premier event on the Asian open-water swimming calendar.
This year’s edition featured 458 athletes representing 31 countries, including Russia, France, Mexico, Australia, India and the United States, as well as 180 Malaysians.
The two-day championship from July 4 to 5 comprised the 10km, 5km, 2km, 500m and 3x500m relay events.
