Bar2000 Faramanthaa Challenge, the biggest watersports contest in the Maldives, has announced applications for their open water swimming event.

Bar2000 Faramanthaa Challenge, organized by Bar2000, managed by Farumathi Events, will include surfing and bodyboarding events in addition to open water swimming, which is scheduled to be held during the first three days of April this year outside Rasfannu in Male' City.

The call for applications for the open water swimming event was opened on Wednesday and will last a month through to 20 February. The open water swimming event consists of five categories, with 30 slots open in each category.

The categories for the open water swimming event, ranked by age with both male and female divisions, are; swimmers between the ages of 12 and 14 (one km), swimmers between ages 14 and 16 (three km), swimmers between ages 14 and 18 (five km), swimmers above 18 years of age (five km) and swimmers over the age of 35 (three km).

In addition to this, 'Farumathi Events' has announced the open water swimming competition will also have a team event (10km), with 30 slots open for teams and no divisions based on gender for participants.

Speaking on Raajje Tv's 'Kulhivaru File' program, Event Director for Open Water Swimming Ismail Faruhaan (Farey) said that the best venue to host the event in Male' would be outside the Rasfannu area.

He also highlighted that aside from the five age categories, the team open water swimming event to be held would be the first of its kind in the Maldives.

He detailed that five swimmers would need to swim two-km in open water on behalf of their teams in the event and that each team was required to have at least one female member.

Applicants who are above 18 years old are required to pay a fee of MVR 200 to take part in the open water swimming event, with those under 18 years of age having to pay MVR 50 to register.

The fee for participating in the team open water swimming event is MVR 500 per team.

Bar2000 Faramanthaa Challenge will take place in collaboration with all national associations and related authorities.

The challenge is designed to promote watersports in the Maldives while hosting engaging competitions with the help of associations to execute events up to international standards.