Latest news with #SplashFoundation
South China Morning Post
07-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
How I went from being afraid of the deep to completing a 1.5km swim race in Hong Kong
Until 18 months ago, I could not swim. Actually, I would go so far as saying I was terrified of deep water. But, this week, I completed my first 1.5-kilometre open-water swim race at Hong Kong's Deep Water Bay. Advertisement It may seem strange for a 32-year-old who covers sport for the Post to be unable to swim, but I am not alone. According to Splash Foundation, almost half of the city's children cannot do so – a figure that is similar for adults and even higher among domestic workers. I decided, after a knee injury ruled out many forms of cardiovascular exercise, that the time had come to conquer my fear of the deep. 'Forty-seven per cent of secondary school kids live without the ability [to swim],' said Simon Holliday, the foundation's co-founder. 'And among the migrant domestic worker population, it is probably 70 or 80 per cent. So, huge numbers can't swim, and all they need is the opportunity, which is what Splash tries to do.' My fear stemmed from a swimming lesson at school in my hometown of Sheffield, England, when I was around five years old. For some reason, I panicked when in the deep end, started thrashing around and had to be pulled out by a lifeguard. Sport writer Lars Hamer, who is 32, only recently learned to swim. Photo: Jonathan Wong That 30-second episode meant that for more than two decades I could not even put my head under water in the bath, let alone contemplate swimming 1,500 metres in the ocean.
South China Morning Post
11-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Siobhan Haughey's Olympic swimsuit sells at auction for more than Phelps' Speedos
The swimsuit and cap worn by Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey when she made history at the Tokyo Olympics have sold at auction for a huge sum, it has been revealed. Advertisement Haughey is this weekend poised to make her return to the pool after a three-month break, in Hong Kong's Long Course Swimming Time Trial. But her old kit has continued to notch up achievements for the 27-year-old during her time out, selling at Splash Foundation's 10th anniversary gala for a sum higher than that fetched elsewhere by the Olympic trunks of the great Michael Phelps. A winning bidder last month paid HK$180,000 (US$23,210) for the Arena Bishamon Carbon Glide suit and Hong Kong team cap worn by Haughey in Tokyo when she claimed the city's first Olympic medal in swimming, storming to silver in the 200 metres freestyle on July 28, 2021. Siobhan Haughey collects her second medal in Tokyo, the silver in the 100m freestyle. Photo: Reuters She went on to add silver in the 100m freestyle in Tokyo, then bronze in both events in the Paris Games last year.
