Spearos from Italy and Spain took top honors this past weekend in the men’s and women’s categories of this year’s World Spearfishing Championships off Arbatax, Italy.
Twenty-five teams, including for the first time six women’s teams, took part in the competiton.
On Saturday, during the first day of competition, Italy took the lead via Giacomo De Mola, followed by the Spanish Oscar Riera and the Croatian Stjepko Kesic. Not far behind were the Greeks, Turks and Chileans. The next day, De Mola and his teammates confirmed their leadership by winning the men’s world title.
As for the women, Spain dominated with Magdalena Sart Bonin in the lead, supported by Alessandra Prat Prat and Ainhoa Abellan Lopez.
More than three quintals (300lbs/136kg) of the fish caught were donated to Caritas of Lanusei.
In addition to the spearfishing, over 60 boys and girls from Tortolì Comprehensive Institutes 1 and 2 participated in a “Fishing for the Planet” Workshop. Promoted by the Scuola apnea Sardegna (organizer of the World Championship), the students mapped the waste on the seabed carried out with GPS by the competing spearos during the pre-competition exploration of the seabed. The athletes of the national teams marked the spots where waste was found on the competition area.
Additionally, an Italian and a South African athlete found and released two turtles entangled in abandoned nets.
