I swam from Penarth to Clevedon on 5 September in 6 hours and 7 minutes, my second channel swim in the UK. Motivation I felt so bad in my English Channel swim. It was well beyond my ability at that time. I didn’t think of anything else and was hoping to get better in competitive swimming first, as good channel swimmers are all high level competitive swimmers. However, I started getting jealous seeing my friends swim more channels, like Wen…
I participated in the Dock2Dock event the 3rd consecutive year, which is the 10th anniversary of the event. There was a 20 km event on this year, which was the first time this ultra-marathon distance was available. This year I decided to do the 10 km because I felt it was too much for me last year, and hoped that I could get a better result. Apart from me, I also got a few friends doing it as well: Ingrid…
I raced in the Open Water Championships again this year, in the London Region and in the England Nationals. My time improved compared to last year but my ranking didn’t. The Regionals The London Region Open Water Championships this year was held in London, at Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre on 6 July, unlike the previous years where it was held in either Hertfordshire or Norfolk. It was easily accessible in urban London, with frequent buses connecting Canary Wharf stopping…
On 14 September, I did my longest swimming event this year in London, the Dock2Dock 15 km event. Last year I did the 10 km event but it happened just 2 days after I swam the English Channel so I was extremely tired and the result did not have a reference value of my actual ability, although it qualified me for the 15 km this year. My swimming ability was far behind most people I knew, and I believed that…
Well done Ingrid Chow, the 4th Hongkonger to swim the English Channel. It was a pleasure for me and Claire to support you and helped you through your tough times. Ingrid started her English Channel swim from Shakespeare Beach at 18:41, 16 August 2024, and landed Le Cran d’Escalles at 11:50 BST the next day after 17 hours and 9 minutes of overnight swimming. She has become the 4th Hongkonger to swim the English Channel, after Chun Kong Mak (2020),…
On 27 and 28 July, I raced in the England Nationals the first time after getting qualified for the Age Group Championships through the regional qualifier. I raced in the 7.5 km Age Group, 5 km Masters and 3 km Masters over the weekend. Location and travel The races were held in Rother Valley Country Park, South Yorkshire. It is not an easy place to get to, with the best public transport option being the express bus 30 from Sheffield…
More photos to be added later. On 13 January, I did my craziest thing in my life: flying from the UK to Austria to swim a 250 m race and back in the UK within 24 hours. Motivation I want to get started in ice swimming, but unfortunately the UK doesn’t have enough opportunities for me to do that. There was only 1 race under IISA in the whole winter in December, the national championships, which was sold out in…
I did the race Cold Half the third time as a solo this year on 4 February. I completed the race in 5:14:26 in 2020 and 4:53:47 in 2021. However, I skipped the 2023 edition because pandemic-related travel restrictions were still in place in Hong Kong, and I had emigrated to the UK already. My intention was to go back to Hong Kong and race every year. Training Unfortunately, I didn’t have much training before this race. I now have…
I visited the Netherlands between 2023-12-14 and 2023-12-17, which was my first overseas trip from the UK without flying. I personally don’t like flying on airlines compared to other forms of public transport, mainly because it is a hassle to go to airports which are usually far away from the city centre, the strict airline security, the limited ability to carry luggage, and the need to book early as there is a strict limit on how many people a plane…
It has been a month since I swam across the English Channel from England to France. It was a magical feeling when I walked onto the shore at Le Petit Blanc Nez after entering the sea at Shakespeare Beach 18 hours and 21 minutes before, but the journey was incredibly tough, and it was nowhere near perfection. I made many irrecoverable mistakes during my preparation resulting in 2 years of time and opportunity cost lost, which would be valued at…