Hsu Wen-erh (許汶而) on Friday became the first Taiwanese to swim solo across the English Channel, saying she was very happy to bring Taiwan to the world.
Hsu completed the challenge in 12 hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds, after swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar in October last year.
She said she had planned to swim the English Channel in August next year, but seized the opportunity when a vacancy became available on the waiting list.
Photo courtesy Hsu Wen-erh via CNA
She went to the UK in May to train for a test that involves swimming for six hours at 16°C, which people who want to swim across the channel must pass, Hsu said.
“I shivered with cold and my fingers even changed color during the first week, but I got used to it and finally passed the test,” she said.
Hsu said she left the UK at 8:30am, swimming without a wetsuit, with the aim of reaching France before dark.
“The journey’s ninth and 10th hours were the most tiring and torturing, as the sunlight shone right in my eyes. Even wearing mirrored goggles is not enough. I swam with my eyes closed almost all the way through the last two hours,” Hsu said.
“Finally, I could see ... France, but the strong currents kept dragging me away. It was painful that I could see the shore, but could not swim ashore,” she said, adding that a seal raised its head above the water and looked at her as she made it to land.
Hsu said she also had to swim through lots of jellyfish that were nearly as big as basketballs.
“I had to turn my head to watch out and dodge the jellyfish. The waters have the most jellyfish that I have ever seen,” she said.
She reached France before dark, covering a total distance of 43.87km, official data showed.
Hsu said that she was “so excited and could not fall asleep” even though she was exhausted, as it was the first time in her life that she had paddled almost nonstop for 12 hours.
She said she was happy to achieve the milestone and raise “Taiwan’s visibility in the world through the sport,” Hsu said.
She said she would not be taking a break and would remain in the UK to train before heading to the US by the end of next month to swim across another strait.
“Can anyone be as crazy as I am?” she asked.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS