Camille Naredo

Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz during her open water swim from Leyte to Bohol. Photo courtesy of Ruiz

Article (news)

Alizon R

Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787660780168IMG_9982.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz during her open water swim from Leyte to Bohol. Photo courtesy of Ruiz"/>Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz during her open water swim from Leyte to Bohol. Photo courtesy of Ruiz</div>MANILA — Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz added another impressive feat to her growing résumé in long-distance open-water swimming, when she swam the 24 kilometers from Leyte to Bohol on Sunday.It took Ruiz 11 hours and 16 minutes of non-stop swimming to complete the feat.On August 12, 2025, she had already crossed another stretch of Philippine waters, swimming approximately 23 kilometers from Bohol to Cebu in 11 hours and 30 minutes.&quot;I just move through it. I just submit myself to the water and then just move. I enjoy every stroke,&quot; she said.Ruiz began her Leyte-Bohol swim at around 5:27 a.m., just as the sun was beginning to rise. The opening stretch was relatively calm but changed quickly.From roughly the first kilometer until the 21-kilometer mark, she battled waves that came from different directions. At times, she felt as though she was barely moving forward.Unlike a pool, there were no lane lines to follow and no wall to touch. Ruiz relied on her stand-up paddleboarder who stayed beside her throughout the journey, roughly one to two arm&#x27;s lengths away.They had paddled the route about a month before the swim and guided Ruiz toward the destination by reading the surrounding landscape and the islands ahead.On the support boat were the rest of Ruiz&#x27;s crew.&quot;On the boat, I have a feeder and first aider. I also have a photographer and videographer. And then I have an observer because this swim is going to be ratified by Marathon Swimming Federation,&quot; she said.&quot;He&#x27;s going to submit all the reports and the photographer will also access the page and submit it,&quot; she added.Ruiz, meanwhile, had only one job: keep swimming.The 24-kilometer journey required more than physical endurance. Ruiz had to carefully manage her energy throughout the 11-hour crossing.For the first few hours, she fed herself every 45 minutes: &quot;I took 10 energy gels, and few slices of watermelon and banana... that&#x27;s it.&quot;Even drinking required her to keep herself afloat. She would tread water briefly as she took in fluids before continuing on.The challenges were not limited to fatigue: at one point, a jellyfish stung her face.&quot;I didn&#x27;t see it, I just felt it,&quot; Ruiz said. &quot;It&#x27;s really painful... it really stung so much so I just took a medicine from the first aider and then pushed through with it.&quot;After approximately 23.5 kilometers, however, her body began sending more serious warnings.&quot;I can feel that, I can hear my breath already,&quot; she said. &quot;And I kind of see some colors that is not really there.&quot;Still, she pushed through the final stretch. She reached 24 kilometers and finally made it to the exit.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787660799228IMG_9308.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz with her crew. Photo courtesy of Ruiz"/>Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz with her crew. Photo courtesy of Ruiz</div>Despite the risks and physical demands of swimming for more than 11 hours in open sea, Ruiz said she never felt in danger. Indeed, she felt &quot;super confident&quot; in the water, which &quot;feels like home&quot; for the athlete.That comfort may help explain why Ruiz chooses to challenge herself in a sport that most people would find intimidating.For her, the motivation is surprisingly simple.&quot;Basically just for fun,&quot; she said.&quot;Another thing is I wanted to promote endurance sports in the Philippines and to challenge myself in making an impact on the community and to push my limits physically and mentally,&quot; she also said.Her swims are personal challenges, but she hopes they can also inspire other people to discover what they are capable of.Ruiz is believed to be the first woman to swim the Leyte-Bohol route.The feat follows the path of another endurance swimmer, the Filipino &quot;Aquaman&quot; Ingemar Macarine, who completed the Bohol to Leyte swim in 2016. Ruiz&#x27;s swim is now being prepared for submission to the Marathon Swimming Federation for ratification, with documentation from her observer and photographer forming part of the process. She expects the recognition process to take place after the required documentation is completed.  But even before her name officially enters the record books, Ruiz is already looking ahead.When asked whether she would do another long-distance swim next year, her answer came without hesitation: &quot;Definitely, and longer.&quot;She already has a tentative location in mind, although she is keeping it a secret for now.For an established swimmer, Ruiz believes three months of preparation could be enough to attempt a similar challenge but the bigger requirement isn&#x27;t necessarily physical.&quot;It&#x27;s more on a mindset rather than physical,&quot; she said. &quot;It&#x27;s like resilience and patience, and everything&#x27;s temporary.&quot;

Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz added another impressive feat to her growing résumé in long-distance open-water swimming, when she swam the 24 kilometers from Leyte to Bohol on Sunday.

Filipina swim coach and hybrid athlete Alizon Ruiz added another impressive feat to her growing résumé in long-distance open-water swimming, when she swam the 24 kilometers from Leyte to Bohol on Sunday.

'Filipina Aquawoman' Alizon Ruiz makes history again with 24km swim from Leyte to Bohol

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'Filipina Aquawoman' Alizon Ruiz makes history again with 24km swim from Leyte to Bohol

Dyan Castillejo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 25, 2026 08:27 PM PHT

Read More:

Filipina Aquawoman

open water swim

Alizon Ruiz

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