Instant sports
Author: Yan Minghui
2020-09-03 16:09
Last update date: 2020-09-03 16:15
Hong Kong ice-water swimmer Mai Zhenjiang spent about 14 hours swimming across the English Channel and reached the French coast yesterday afternoon, becoming the first person in Hong Kong.
Mai Zhenjiang fell into the water from Dover in the UK at 11pm local time on Tuesday (September 1st), went dark, swam until sunrise, and arrived at the French coast at 2pm on Wednesday, as he had planned for departure , It took 14 hours to complete the whole process.
Although the straight-line distance is about 33 kilometers, he believes that the actual swimming distance is 50 kilometers considering the sea surface conditions, such as ocean currents and large waves.
At that time, the water temperature was about 17 degrees Celsius, but Mai Zhenjiang did not put on a gel coat or any warming equipment, and fell topless into the water.
Mai Zhenjiang received extreme swimming training for 3 years and completed the crossing of the English Channel yesterday.
(Facebook)
Mak Zhenjiang raised funds online five months ago. At that time, he filmed and said: "In the records of the English Channel Swimming Association, from 1875 to the present, only 1,652 people completed individual crossings. If I can complete it, it will be history. The first Hong Kong person to complete this feat.” He also explained: “Let people all over the world know that Hong Kong people are not afraid of difficulties and have the spirit of becoming stronger when they are stronger.”
[Mai Zhenjiang arrived in France and completed the challenge]
Mai Zhenjiang was born in 1986. He studied and traveled in Hong Kong, and also attended middle school and university in Hong Kong.
He said that he had drowned when he was a child. "When I was 7 years old, I hadn't learned to swim and almost drowned in the river." After that, he made up his mind to learn to swim and swim better. He was a member of the school team in middle school and university.
He later went to Germany to study for a Ph.D. After graduation, he went to work in the Czech Republic and started swimming in ice water.
What is swimming in ice water?
Mak Zhenjiang explained: "According to the guidelines of the International Ice Water Swimming Association, swimmers must complete swimming events where the water temperature is lower than 5 degrees Celsius without warm clothing."
Mai Zhenjiang has received extreme swimming training for the past three years. In addition to ice water swimming, he also has long-distance swimming. He has participated in more than 100 competitions.
He stated that he once swam a mile in 31 minutes and 24 seconds in a water temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius, becoming the 311th swimmer in the world to complete a mile ice swim and the first person in Hong Kong.
In February of this year, he spent 43 minutes and 3 seconds to swim 1 mile in the butterfly style, becoming the first man in the world to complete the challenge.
Swimming Hong Kong athlete