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After weeks of planning and a few half-hearted training sessions during weekday lunch-hours, the day of the Mekong Swim finally arrived. It was with some trepidation, only a few weeks back, that I looked across the river at the site where the swim was to take place and wondered why I was even considering paying to swim across the muddy waters. Not only did it look a long way across, with a strong downstream current that could carry an unwary swimmer all the way back to Phnom Penh and eventually to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, but I also had my doubts the quality of the water. However, I was assured by my colleagues at the MRC that the Mekong River is considered to be one of the cleanest in the world and with the nearest upstream settlement over 100km away, I would not be spluttering my way across sewerage-laced water. Funny then, that they would not provide me with the latest bacterial analyses before the race but told me afterwards that they hoped I'd not swallowed too much water. Ho-hum. After a comprehensive safety briefing, 130 swimmers took to the water and lined themselves up for the start, which was done by Chhuon Khon, a Cambodian Gold Medallist from the 1965 Asean Games. In just under 12 minutes, I had swum 600m across the mighty Mekong, squelched through knee-deep mud and scrambled up the steep bank on the other side of the river. And if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, most swimmers swam back to the other side again, despite having the option of a river cruise boat for the return journey. While I, and the rest of the organizers and volunteers, sorted out t-shirts, times and prizes, the rest of the swimmers and spectators feasted on traditional Cambodian fare under the trees on the river bank before hopping aboard the Mekong Queen for the cruise back down the river to Phnom Penh. It was a fine day and already there is talk about developing the event into a duathlon or even triathlon next year… we may well be back!
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The registration
Chhuon Khon starts the race
The start from a spectator boat |
