Hong Kong girl, 14, fights for life after collapsing at end of swimming race in Kowloon Park

A teenage swimmer was fighting for her life last night after collapsing shortly after a race at Kowloon Park pool.

Cheuk Long-yee, 14, had just finished a 50m freestyle race at a Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association open meet yesterday when she fell to the ground next to a secondary pool.

Lifeguards used a defibrillator to revive the Kiangsu-Chekiang College (Sha Tin) pupil, who was then taken Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where she was last night in a critical condition in intensive care.

Long-yee was said to be fit, healthy and a regular competitor at swimming meets for her school and swimming club. She had finished the race in 30.92 seconds, missing the qualifying time of 30.69 seconds for the next round.

Her coach raised the alarm at about 11am after seeing that Long-yee had fallen ill while resting after the race at the pool in Tsim Sha Tsui. She was struggling to breathe and had only a weak pulse until first aid was applied. She was able to breathe again after resuscitation.

A vice-principal of the school, who visited Long-yee in hospital last night, said her parents had never mentioned any underlying illnesses.