14 DAY TRIAL // Hong Kong continued the tradition of its famous harbor race, after it had abandoned it for 33 years now, due to concerns regarding pollution and water quality. On Sunday, to celebrate the first edition of the contest, organized after 23 years, hundreds of swimmers were excited to compete against each other.
One of the world's most beautiful ports was brought back to life by contestants that seemed to be enjoying the event without expressing their worries regarding water pollution.
"I had heard everything about the cross-harbor race, It was wonderful having the chance to finally participate in it," said David Wong, one of the amateur swimmers.
The swimmers managed to successfully cover a 1.8 kilometer (1.1 mile) course that links Lei Yue Mun in Kowloon to Quarry Bay on Hong Kong island. The event was intensely publicized and therefore, many people showed up to welcome and cheer the contestants at the finish line.
Many participants were swimming in the harbor for the first time. For most of them, the contest was a very pleasant surprise. They decided to take part in this event because it has such an outstanding tradition.
Some of them heard about it from their parents and grandparents, taking into consideration that the competition has been organized for the first time in 1906.
At that time, Hong Kong was still a British colony. The officials stopped organizing the race in 1978, after they expressed their worries regarding water pollution.
Despite the fact that representatives took all the measures of precaution while planning the event, they added one by changing the location.
The race was organized several kilometers east of the traditional Victoria Harbor meeting place, in order to choose an area which officials believe is cleaner, with a lower degree of polluters.
Hong Kong's efforts to improve water quality paid off. It seems that swimmers were pleased with the location and the entire strategy which allowed the competition to take place.
Some of the contestants expressed their excitement regarding the fact that officials made sure the water was clean. "There was no visible rubbish. And there were hardly any waves at all," said Davis Hui, one of the participants.