The Hong Kong China Swimming Association expresses disappointment as the government puts a stringent cap on the number of participants at this year’s cross-harbour swim.
Earlier in the week, the organiser announced New World Harbour Race is set for October 23. The century-old event, originally called the Cross Harbour Race, will follow a similar course as previous years that takes swimmers from Wan Chai’s Golden Bauhinia Square across to Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Shui. The annual event sees upwards of 20,000 participants taking the plunge starting at 8 am.
The roughly 1km journey was suspended in 2019 and 2020 and was again picked up last year, with 1,500 swimmers making the cross-harbour journey.
However, the government has now put a 500-swimmer limit on the event, to the disappointment of many, including Ronnie Wong, president of the Hong Kong China Swimming Association.
Wong, a three time champion of the event, says the association considers putting a stop to the race altogether, citing a waste of resources and effort to organise such a large-scale event for so few swimmers. Restricting water traffic, occupying two public piers, plus deploying 750 staff members for a 500-swimmer event isn’t viable, Wong told a local newspaper.
In a last attempt to keep the event afloat, the organiser says it’ll continue to work with the government on possible solutions.
This would not be the first time the swim gets suspended in its century-long history. First hosted in 1906, the Cross Harbour Race was modified to adapt to the changes brought upon the harbour by aggressive reclamation. By 1978, Victoria Harbour became too polluted to swim in and the annual event was put to an end. It wasn’t until more than three decades later, in 2011, that the event gets rebranded as the New World Harbour Race, thanks to the government’s efforts in cleaning up the world-famous Victoria Harbour.
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