How swimming saved a breast cancer survivor – and less than 2 years after her diagnosis, she’ll take part in a 45km charity race
- Rachael Guan was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer in January 2022 and found refuge in swimming, which played a vital role in her rehabilitation
- On November 4, she will take part in a 45km charity multi-relay race around Hong Kong Island, swimming alongside people including local Olympian Camille Cheng
When Rachael Guan first returned to swimming after Hong Kong’s Covid-19 restrictions on pools were lifted, her fellow swimmers at AG Sports, a triathlon training club based in Tung Chung, on Lantau Island, thought the lack of hair on her head was some dramatic hydrodynamic tactic.
“Everybody thought I got short hair because I wanted extra speed in the water,” she says.
Little did they know that Guan had lost her hair from undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy. Earlier that year, in January 2022, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Now, having recovered from her surgery and treatments, she will take part in a 45km (28-mile) multi-relay swim race with 29 other swimmers, including an Olympian, around Hong Kong Island on November 4.
The goal is to raise HK$2.5 million (US$320,000) for Splash Foundation, a non-profit group that provides free swimming lessons to domestic helpers and low-income communities in Hong Kong.
For Guan, a senior legal trainer at the international law firm Mayer Brown, swimming has long been a major aspect of her physical and mental well-being. She first began swimming during her childhood and teenage years, which she spent in London and Brazil.