The 22nd edition of the Cross Penghu Bay Swim was held Sunday morning on the outlying archipelago. A record 1,600 swimmers took part, and for the first time, the category of stand-up paddleboarding was introduced. Let’s take a look.

At the sound of air horns, participants set out from the shore and enter the water for the Cross Penghu Bay Swim.

Around 1,600 athletes from home and abroad participated in the annual event. This year’s race included a 5,000-meter swim, the longest category, as well as an easier 500-meter category. For the first time, a 5,000-meter stand-up paddleboard competition was added. There were also 36 young swimmers from Changhua who specially traveled across the sea to the outlying island for the experience.

Ms. Tsai
Changhua adolescent swim team coach
The kids are very curious about swimming across Penghu Bay, so I thought, why not? I let them take on the 500-meter swim. They now want to try the 2,000-meter challenge.

Kuo Chia-chi
Women’s 5,000-meter swim winner
The water felt cool and it felt good. The weather wasn’t too bad either.

The winner of the women’s 5,000-meter swim, Kuo Chia-chi, won the title for the second year in a row, and Tsai Yao-yu, the men’s champion, was also the gold medalist in last year’s 2,000-meter category. Chen Tzu-ting, ambassador for stand-up paddleboarding, led a team of paddleboarders to paddle their way 60 kilometers across open water to Penghu two days earlier, and took part in the annual competition.

Chen Tzu-ting
SUP category ambassador
It was pretty easy in the beginning, but the wind picked up near the end.

Hung Chou-yun
Food section organizer
Every year at this time, we take the opportunity to present to people our local delicacies, including seasonal squid and Spanish mackerel.

Various food stalls with all kinds of seafood and snacks were set up to help participants fuel up. The Cross Penghu Bay Swim has now become an annual festival for the outlying county. Over its 22-year history, more than 20,000 participants have swum across the proverbial bay.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#台灣新聞 #TaiwanNews #民視新聞 #FTV新聞 #Taiwan