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Author: michael

July 2020 update

July 2020 update

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It has been a while after I have made my last blog post, and now the situation has changed a lot, including Hong Kong, the pandemic, etc. The new “national security law” has been imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese Central Government bypassing the Hong Kong government completely which means “one country two systems” have been destroyed. The UK has officially declared that Sino-British Joint Declaration is violated. A few countries have already suspended the extradition treaty with Hong…

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My 2020 marathon swim season is over

My 2020 marathon swim season is over

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My upcoming marathon swimming race, Vidösternsimmet, which is originally planned to held on 8th August this year has been postponed to 14th August 2021 due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It means that my 2020 marathon swim season is over because going to Europe this summer is now unlikely, and I will not do marathon swimming in Hong Kong before November (i.e. I will not do a Clean Half solo) because it is too hot for me. The earliest opportunity for…

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Hong Kong Law Society swimming team will do an English Channel relay challenge this July.

Hong Kong Law Society swimming team will do an English Channel relay challenge this July.

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3 HKU alumni lawyers Eliza Chang, Allan Che and Eugene Wong will form a relay team to swim the English Channel this July, named “The Rule of Law Swimming Marathon”. They are planning to become the first ever Hong Kong relay team to cross the channel. They have been preparing for this challenge in the past 18 months, with the initial idea of a 6-person relay, 3 lawyers from Hong Kong and 3 lawyers from Guangdong. However the Guangdong team…

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Ching Ming Festival under pandemic

Ching Ming Festival under pandemic

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Today is Ching Ming Festival, a traditional festival (along with Chung Yeung Festival in autumn) for families to visit the tombs of ancestors, clean them up, pray for them and make rituals. Our family currently don’t celebrate Ching Ming Festival because our parents are very healthy, and we believe that we should respect them when they are alive rather than pray for them afterwards. However, this year, although my family stay healthy, there is a pandemic called COVID-19 ongoing which…

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Chun Kong Mak will attempt an English Channel solo crossing this October to become the first Hongkonger doing so.

Chun Kong Mak will attempt an English Channel solo crossing this October to become the first Hongkonger doing so.

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Chun Kong Mak has announced that he will attempt to swim across the English Channel this October, hoping to become the first Hongkonger to complete this epic challenge in open water swimming. He currently lives in Brno, Czechia. He is an experienced long-distance swimmer and ice swimmer, the only ice swimmer from Hong Kong with his first ice mile in 2019, and his second this year in butterfly. He and 3 other Czech swimmers crossed Loch Ness as a relay…

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Is it practical to boycott the MTR? My personal experience since last September.

Is it practical to boycott the MTR? My personal experience since last September.

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The MTR is one of the best metro system in the world. It is punctual, efficient and clean. It is a pride of Hong Kong. It is an integral part in the public transport network in Hong Kong, forming nearly half of the market share in the city where public transport usage is the highest in the world. The government has a policy to use railways as the backbone of Hong Kong’s public transport system (以鐵路為骨幹, alternatively railway priority policy,…

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My marathon plan aborted

My marathon plan aborted

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Because I felt good after running a half marathon last December, I decided to continue my run training and signed up for a marathon because I wanted to become a balanced “triathlete”, having similar level in swimming and running. I picked Seoul International Marathon as my target race, which was 15 weeks after I did the half marathon, noting that it had a IAAF platinum certified flat course and held in a good season which I could expect to run…

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“Marathon” swimming – some thoughts about the use of the term

“Marathon” swimming – some thoughts about the use of the term

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What is a marathon? “Marathon” is a running term. It means a long-distance race with an official distance of 42.195 km. The name originated from a legend of Philippides that he ran from Marathon to Athens non-stop to announce the victory that the Persians had been defeated, then collapsed and died. The modern distance, about 40 km, was approximately the distance of that route from Marathon to Athens, and settled at 42.195 km using the length of the 1908 Olympics…

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Cold Half 2020 – race report

Cold Half 2020 – race report

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I have completed Cold Half on Sunday, which has become my second marathon swimming race. Here’s the race report. Race information Name: Cold Half Date: 2020-01-19 Place: Hong Kong (Stanley ➡️ Deep Water Bay, via To Tei Wan, around Stanley Peninsula, round Round Island and Middle Island) Distance: 15 km as claimed by the organiser (13.8 km as measured on Google satellite image) Website: http://results.racetimingsolutions.com/results.aspx?CId=16387&RId=6325&EId=1 Live tracking: http://live.dottrack.asia/coldhalf2020/ Result: 05:14:26 Rank: 6/6 in category, 11/13 in non-wetsuit, 15/17 overall (1…

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Cold Half 2020 – pre-race

Cold Half 2020 – pre-race

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It is only 4 days to my next race, Cold Half, which will be my 2nd marathon swimming race in my life. This has been my goal race from the very beginning when I started swimming seriously at the end of 2018. At that time I set up my goal to become a marathon swimmer by March 2020, which I planned to do this as my 1st race. However I did the Lake Geneva Classic in July 2019 which became…

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