Athletes of all shapes and sizes took to the water yesterday morning for the start of the sprint distance race of the Uni-President Cup Triathlon at Sun Moon Lake.
Some swimmers seemed unprepared for the task that lay ahead of them and were forced to cling to the buoys that marked the route shortly after entering the water. Fortunately, lifeguards were on hand to throw flotation devices to those who were struggling and to dive in and rescue others who were in real danger.
The wide range of ability on display only served to make the prowess of the more accomplished athletes more apparent, with a group of South Korean senior high school students leading the charge.
Somewhat miraculously given the carnage in the water, Asian junior men's champion Heo Min-ho and runner-up Kim Ju-suk completed the 750m swim in just nine minutes and were first out of the lake.
Heo eked out a nearly 2 minute lead on the 20km cycling leg and stretched his advantage by another minute-and-a-half during the 5km run to finish first in an overall time of 1:02:15.
He was followed a little over three-and-a-half minutes later by Kim Ju-suk. Sin Sung-geun finished third.
But that was not the end of the Seoul show, as a cramping Kim Hee-ju finished as the first female athlete and took fourth position overall with a time of 1:10:57. She was followed by another South Korean female athlete, Lee Song-nan, who ensured that South Korea completed a clean sweep of the top five places overall.
Only Kim Ki-yeon let the show down somewhat by being beaten to the line by two Taiwanese senior high school students -- Hsu Tzu-hsiung (許自雄), sixth overall, and Hsu Pei-yen (徐培嚴), seventh overall -- but she still claimed third position in the women's race.
Speaking through a translator, the South Koreans were modest about their success and said they had found the running very hot and the cycling course quite steep and challenging.
Asian junior women's champion Lee said she had battled to make her way through the mass of swimmers.
Hsu Tzu-hsiung, a student at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and also a keen gymnast, said he had been impressed by the South Koreans' speed.
Kaohsiung Municipal Jui-Hsiang High School student Hsu Pei-yen (徐培嚴) said he had only practiced for one week and that it had been so hot during the race that he had felt as if he was going to die.
Other than the domination of the South Korean athletes, a major feature of the sprint distance race was the participation of members of the police force. Competing under the slogan "Probity, justice, health, vitality -- High Quality Police Culture," 524 police officers took part, meaning that nearly one in six participants was a member of the police force.
Leading in bib No. 1 was National Police Agency Director-General Hou You-yi (侯友宜).
After completing his first triathlon, Hou told the Taipei Times that he had wanted to set an example for the police force.
He said that he had found it very difficult, but it was important for police officers to be fit and strong so they could perform their duties.
Hou said he had enjoyed the swimming section of the race the most, even though it had been very crowded and, as he was in the last swimming group to start, he had to swim through many stragglers.
He added that it was unfortunate that the water had smelled bad.
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