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Two people die at Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival
By Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTER, WITH STAFF WRITER
Monday, Sep 24, 2007, Page 2
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Participants in the Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival hold on to large inflatable Taiwan Beer bottles.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMESNWARNING: EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTI
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Two men died during the annual Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival yesterday.
They were identified as Yang Chao-wan (楊超萬), 72, of Pingtung County and Lee Shih-yi (李世益), 46, of Taipei County.
Yang drowned after going into shock, while Lee died of a heart attack after having completed the swim.
Two other swimmers fell ill during the swim.
Kao Chun-hsiu (高春秀), 45, was sent to the emergency room for high blood pressure and a teenage girl received assistance on shore after having an epileptic attack.
As per regulations, organizers of the event had warned people with heart conditions and high blood pressure against participating.
Yesterday's incidents constituted the most serious problems in the event's 25-year history since an elderly participant died of a heart attack in 1996.
The event organizer said this year's carnival attracted 22,000 swimmers -- including participants from Japan, the US and European countries.
The oldest participant was 76 years old while the youngest was 10.
In response to fears by medical personnel that the water temperature might be too cold for the swimmers, Hsieh Chin-sheng (謝金聲), an official at the Nantou County Government's bureau of education said the temperature was between 18oC and 20oC.
The bureau believed that such temperatures were appropriate for swimming.
Hsieh also mentioned that all participants had been asked by the organizer of the event to do warm-up exercises before going into the water.
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