Reports of an approaching typhoon did not seem to daunt Taiwanese long-distance swimmer Wang Han (
Wang added, however, that he would continue to monitor weather reports today and might consider postponing the swim a day, depending on the situation. The event may possibly be postponed for a week if the situation gets worse.
"But we are confident that the plan will go on as scheduled," he said.
The team consists of 32 members, that include 16 Taiwanese swimmers, 12 from China and four from South Africa.
The team is scheduled to start from Tamsui's Fishermen's Wharf tomorrow.
The team will swin day and night for four days. The swimmers are expected to arrive in Matsu next Tuesday if everything proceeds smoothly.
If the team fails to achieve its goal, it plans to try again next month.
The announcement was made yesterday at a press conference attended by the swimmers and Taiwanese track and field star Chi Cheng (
Chi has been a strong supporter of Wang's endeavors since Wang swam across the Strait of Gibraltar in 1986. Since then, Wang has successfully swum across 12 straits around the world.
"He [Wang] is a true hero; he risks his life in order to achieve his goal," she said.
The 32 swimmers come from all walks of life, including chefs, stock brokers and students.
Salina Chen (陳培溫), who turns 16 this year, is the youngest participant on the team. She just got accepted to Nangang Senior High School.
"I saw the news on TV in April and thought it would be fun," she told the Taipei Times. "And I decided to register for the event immediately afterward."
After passing a physical exam in May, Chen went through three months of rigorous training.
Chen recalled being stung by jellyfish during training and was asked to swim from the coast of Keelung County to Keelung Islet (基隆嶼), a small island that is located along the northern shore of Taiwan.
"Sometimes I was so exhausted that I thought about quitting," she said. "But I can say that I have been a part of a great challenge if I manage to pull this off."
Wang said the young swimmers did not receive any special treatment during training.
Besides the physical training, swimmers were also taught to understand the ocean, the currents and how to protect themselves from sharks.
He added that the most challenging part of the swim was the Taiwan Strait's choppy seas.
"The best time to swim is when both the southwest front and the seasonal wind from the northwest subside," he said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS