Resident Brett Kruse becomes 8th person to circle Hong Kong Island in fundraising solo swim
Hong Kong Free Press
Brett Kruse has become the eighth person to complete a solo swim around Hong Kong Island. His feat was a fundraising effort for a local charity dedicated to teaching the city’s underprivileged and marginalised communities to swim.
Kruse finished the 45-kilometer swim last Friday in just over 11 hours and 30 minutes, according to the Splash Foundation, raising over HK$60,000. Three typhoons and a Chinese People’s Liberation Army warships visit last month forced him to postpone his attempt twice.
The swimmer started off at Sai Wan, the westernmost district of the Hong Kong Island, at 1.15 am on Friday and returned to the starting point shortly after 1 pm on that day.
He had to swim without a buoy or wetsuit in accordance with marathon swim rules and he was only allowed to stop briefly for liquid feed every 45 minutes. A canoe and a safety boat guided Kruse in the open water while a support swimmer was also allowed to accompany him intermittently.
The Marine Department also shadowed Kruse to keep boat traffic at a distance.
Kruse came on shore at the Sai Wan Swimming Shed as supporters and support swimmers in the sea whistled and applauded.
“My longest by a significant margin, and such a cool island,” said Kruse, who moved to Hong Kong around two years ago.
“Swimming the harbour [at night] with the skyline was epic, then [I] probably had the toughest section for me mentally. Hours four and five were still dark and I really needed day light… Then I enjoyed the day light as I swam familiar waters of the south side.”
“Final section was tough, but thankfully my various pains remained consistent while not escalating too bad. Super special to end it with my support swimmers flagging me like a wounded solider returning from war.”
As of Monday, Kruse’s attempt had raised over HK$61,257 from 53 Splash Foundation donors, which has taught more than 8,000 people in Hong Kong to swim. It is aiming to teach 30,000 by 2030.
The around the island challenge, known as the Hong Kong 360 Swim, was first held in November 2017, when Splash Foundation founder Simon Holliday completed it in 12 hours, 34 minutes whilst raising HK$1.1 million in the process.
The challenge starts near Kennedy Town in Sai Wan and circles the island clockwise, passing Victoria Harbour, Shek O, Stanley and Ap Lei Chau, before finishing back in Sai Wan.
Currently, the record for a solo swimmer in the Hong Kong 360 Swim challenge stands at 10 hours 43 minutes, set by swimmer turned singer Alex Fong in 2019.
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