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The New World Harbour Race is an annual swimming race across Hong Kong harbour, normally held in October. First held in 1906, the Cross Harbour Race was one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated events for over 70 years. It was revived in 2011.
While the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament has been postponed yet again, the cross-harbour swim and cyclothon are going ahead, albeit with stringent health control measures
Crowds gather in Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui to watch Sunday’s event, with Kaiki Furuhata winning the men’s race and Hanano Kato first in the women’s.
Kwok Chun-hei’s victory ensures double family celebration at grandfather’s birthday lunch, while Athena Wong leaves it late before winning women’s race.
Swimming boss acknowledges people will miss out but says demand shows popularity of race.
‘We see little reason not to have it this year after meeting all of the government’s anti-epidemic measures,’ says Hong Kong swimming chief.
Entries slashed by more than 60 per cent to 1,500 from 4,000 because of Covid-19 pandemic while swimmers must be fully vaccinated and test negative for the virus.
Entry quota for swimming event to be reduced from 2019’s planned 4,000 swimmers to 1,500 amid Covid-19 concerns
A record 4,000 entrants, who will receive a full refund and given priority for the 2020 race, were to tackle a new route from Wan Chai public pier to Tsim Sha Tsui East on October 27.