My journey with open water swimming began in 2021 during COVID. I had injured myself from running ultra marathons and my physiotherapist told me swimming was the only sport I could do. I never thought of myself as a good swimmer. In fact, I only knew how to do breaststroke. Luckily, I am familiar with the sea as I used to wakeboard frequently as a teenager.

I have always envied how smooth and easy freestyle swimming was and decided to take my first lesson. The amazing truth is, freestyle swimming is really as liberating as it looks. In my first few lessons, I worked on my “catch”, the initial phase of freestyle stroke where your hand enters the water and begins the underwater part of your stroke. You must swim like a streamlined cylinder in the water, and learn how to kick efficiently. People often ask me why I love swimming in open water and my answer is “it requires full commitment.” It is not like running when you can stop anytime. The only way to leave in the middle of the sea is to swim back to the shore! Once I became more confident swimming within the safety net, I ventured out beyond to swim from Repulse Bay to South Bay, around Middle Island and also around Hong Kong Island.

A highlight of my swimming experience was swimming around Hong Kong Island (45km) for Splash Foundation with five incredible women: Camille Cheng, Jamie Yeung, Hannah Wilson, Karen Robertson and Claire Cormier. Four out of five women swam in the Olympics representing Hong Kong, and it was an honour to swim with them and be part of an all-women relay team. We have forged friendships and even set a Hong Kong record as the first ever all-women relay team to swim around Hong Kong Island. You must be wondering how I got to swim with Olympics swimmers when I only just learnt how to swim freestyle.

The answer lies in Splash Foundation, the charity foundation we were swimming for, which believes everyone should be given the opportunity to learn to swim. Splash Foundation helps children and parents from low income communities, children with special educational needs, migrant domestic workers and other ethnic minority groups to experience the transformative impact of swimming. Swimming is for all. When Simon Holliday, the Co-Founder of Splash Foundation, asked if I would like to join them to swim around Hong Kong to promote mental wellbeing, I jumped at the opportunity and said yes! 

The swim around Hong Kong Island started at 3am at Sai Wan Swimming Shed. We took 11 hours 59 mins 55 seconds and raised HK$1.3m to provide underprivileged communities an opportunity to swim. We had to swim in the dark amongst marine life and boat traffic to complete a full circle around the frog-shaped island we call home. As the slowest swimmer in my group, it was funny how I got the toughest leg from Big Wave Bay to Cape D’Aguilar. The relay order usually starts with the fastest swimmer and ends with the slowest. While swimming, the waves were so big and rough that I felt like I was in a tumble dryer the whole time! It was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

The most rewarding part of this experience is that after my swim, numerous people have come forward to tell me that I have inspired them to swim and that anything is achievable as long you have the will power. This is the reason why I want to continue supporting Splash Foundation to spread the love of this sport. 

In November 2024, I will be taking up the challenge again to swim around Hong Kong Island for Splash Foundation. This year, it will be more competitive as we will be racing against 4 teams of six mixed genders swimmers. My team will include business leaders, entrepreneurs, and elite athletes, including Gregory Van (founder of Endowus), Jada Lam (fourth generation jeweller, Wai Kee Jewellers), Harry Krkalo (founding partner & CEO of GLY Capital Management Ltd), and his wife, Dr. Shauna Krkalo, and professional footballer Marko Stojanovic.