Age no factor for harbour’s swim crowd
HONG Kong’s Victoria Harbour is one of the world’s busiest ports, but every morning daring elderly swimmers dive into its choppy waters against a teeming backdrop of ferries, cargo ships and fishing boats.
The city’s older generations fill public spaces as the sun rises, practising sword dancing and tai chi, or playing impromptu games of badminton.
On the western tip of Hong Kong Island, they choose to take a dip, rarely put off by inclement weather or imminent typhoons.
Lau Sam-lan, 74, has been swimming there daily for about 30 years, one of many regulars who have been doing so for decades.
“Swimming makes me feel healthier and relaxed,” he said. “I would feel uncomfortable if I didn’t come.”
Known as the Sai Wan swimming shed, with basic changing rooms and showers housed in corrugated ironclad huts, it harks back to a time in the mid-20th century when there were many dotted around the harbour.
But with worsening pollution and the arrival of chlorinated public pools, the sheds fell out of fashion.
Built by residents in 1988, Sai Wan is the last one standing.
Water quality has improved recently as the government tries to clean up the harbour, the swimmers said.
The Sai Wan swimmers pay HK150 (R246) a month to use the shed and there are about 80 members.