Siobhan Haughey dives in as Hong Kong Victoria Harbour race seeks expanded entry

Organisers of the Hong Kong Victoria Harbour Race are considering recruiting mainland Chinese lifeguards to increase the participant limit to beyond 10,000 after more than 3,700 swimmers, including National Games medallist Siobhan Haughey, joined Saturday’s annual event.

Hong Kong China Swimming Association President Ronnie Wong Man-chiu told the media after the event that the key factors in raising the quota were the number of available lifeguards and the amount of time competitors spend in the water.

“The target that we hope to reach in the future is over 10,000 competitors, but there are a lot of factors that we have to consider, which are the amount of lifeguards and the time spent in the sea by competitors,” Wong said.

According to Wong, more than 3,700 people took part in this year’s race, just a few hundred short of the organiser’s 4,000 person quota.

Wong added that they were “very happy” there was only one swimmer who felt unwell and could not finish the race, with most participants completing it independently.

Asked what was preventing the association from raising the quota to a previous target of 5,000, Wong said one challenge was ensuring an adequate number of lifeguards, as discussions with the government and local lifeguard associations were required.