In November, I travelled to Dubai for the final race in the 2018 Oceanman season and a blast of end-of-season sun. There were two categories: open and “world championships”. I had secured a place in the world championship wave after a top 10 age-group place in Oceanman Lago d’Orta earlier in the year.
Dubai wouldn’t normally be the type of place I’d travel to for a swim but I was curious to try something different. As a place to hold a global event, it has a lot in its favour: flight connections to almost anywhere, it’s a cosmopolitan and diverse city with excellent infrastructure, the water temperature is amazing and it’s almost always sunny.