Hong Kong grows in popularity for open water swimmers, but some logistics issues remain
Quick Look
Emeric Payer, a 21-year-old Hong Kong-French swimmer, completed a solo 45-kilometre circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island in 10 hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds, breaking the HK360 course record by 13 minutes and becoming the eleventh and youngest finisher.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The HK360 is an official circumnavigation route around Hong Kong Island. The previous overall course record was set last year by British-South African Waris Mills at 10 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds.
When Emeric Payer plunged into the pitch-black waters of Victoria Harbour at 4am on Monday, his coaches' old jokes about his endurance were still fresh in his mind.
A former competitive pool sprinter in the 50-metre freestyle, the 21-year-old was known to fade minutes into longer distance swimming events. But this changed when he completed a solo, unassisted 45-kilometre circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island in the record time of 10 hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds.
The Hong Kong-French swimmer took 13 minutes off the overall course record set last year by British-South African Waris Mills (10:35:58) to become the eleventh and youngest person to finish the official HK360 route.
Open Questions
- What specific conditions did Payer face during the swim?
- Who verified the record time?
- What training changes enabled Payer to improve his endurance?
