Phoenix 24
Open water rewards those who read the sea.
Formentera, May 2026
Rafa Cabanillas reaffirmed his command in open-water swimming by winning the 8-kilometer race at the 10th edition of MARNATON eDreams Formentera by Baleària. The event gathered nearly 1,000 swimmers across 8 km, 4 km and 2 km distances, with the finish set at Cala Saona after organizers adapted the route because of easterly winds. Cabanillas completed the main distance in 1:37:56, ahead of Italy’s Massimo Grisenti and Guille Matas.
The victory was not only another podium result, but a confirmation of consistency in a discipline where conditions often matter as much as physical preparation. Open-water swimming demands tactical patience, orientation, resistance and the ability to adjust to wind, currents and rhythm changes without the controlled geometry of a pool. In that environment, Cabanillas turned experience into authority.
Ona de Miguel claimed the women’s 8 km title, adding another layer of competitiveness to a race that opened the MARNATON calendar. The event also highlighted the strength of Spain’s open-water circuit, where elite performance and mass participation coexist in a format that turns geography into part of the competition. Formentera, with its turquoise waters and unpredictable coastal logic, again functioned as both stage and opponent.
The next stop of the MARNATON calendar will move the circuit toward Sitges, extending a season that will later pass through Begur, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Cadaqués and Ibiza. For Cabanillas, the Formentera result reinforces a profile built not only on speed, but on technical literacy in difficult water. In endurance sports, crowns are not defended by force alone; they are defended by knowing when the sea is asking for restraint.
Más allá de la noticia, el patrón. / Beyond the news, the pattern.