Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3026240/hongkonger-sets-loch-ness-swim-record-after-missing-flight-and
Sport/ Hong Kong

Hongkonger sets Loch Ness swim record after missing flight and sleeping for just four hours before tackling 36km distance

  • Peat makes Scottish loch ‘taste like whisky’, says Mak Chun-kong after team set unofficial record for four-person relay
  • IT worker felt that ‘Nessie wanted him to swim faster’ during 11-hour-and-38-minute effort
Hongkonger Mak Chun-kong enters Loch Ness for his third swim of his team’s relay record attempt. Photos: Mak Chun-kong

Hongkonger Mak Chun-kong has set a new unofficial record for swimming the length of Loch Ness, along with his teammates.

The four swimmers completed their 36km relay in 11 hours and 38 minutes, a whole three hours faster than the previous four-person record of 14 hours and 39 minutes. The team are waiting for the record to be ratified by the British Long Distance Swimming Association.

However, the experienced ice swimmer was disappointed that they could not beat the three-swimmer relay record of 10 hours and 28 minutes.

“I think maybe Hong Kong people always have high aims. My teammates couldn’t make it 10 hours 28 minutes but I’m happy with the result,” he said.

Mak, his teammates and their support team after completing the relay.
Mak, his teammates and their support team after completing the relay.

“Maybe the maximum we could have done is half an hour faster with better conditions.” Instead, it was wind and rain.

“The pilot predicted by the forecast that the wind would blow to Lochend from Fort Augustus but on that day it was the reverse so it blew us back.”

The team pose for a picture at Lochend.
The team pose for a picture at Lochend.

“He said that it doesn’t matter too much, that intensity of wind and waves, but it was 90 per cent of the swim. It was only five kilometres before the ending point at Lochend that the wind direction suddenly changed. That was 4.30pm. It changed and blew us to the ending point, which was pretty good for my teammate.

“There was a rainbow waiting for us at the finishing point, which was really beautiful,” Mak said.

A rainbow was not the only pleasant surprise the 32-year-old found on the swim.

“The water tasted like whisky. There’s some peat on the hills and the rain takes that down into the loch. Delicious. The pilot told me not to drink the water because the peat would make my stomach upset. I enjoyed it.”

The swim had not gone to plan. “We expected to swim on Wednesday or Thursday last week so we would have some time to prepare. Instead, we had to it instantly,” he said.

In fact, the whole trip had not gone as planned, starting with Mak’s journey from his home in the Czech Republic.

“We missed our flight on Sunday, three of us. We booked another flight instantly but we got stuck in Vienna for an evening. We slept well, we took a flight at 7am and it was a whole day travelling.

“When we reached Edinburgh the pilot called me and asked if we could swim the next day starting from 5am. We got there on Monday, we had to swim on Tuesday. We arrived at 3.45am. We only slept four hours and some of us think if we slept longer we might have a faster time but we accepted it.

“Our most experienced teammate told us ‘when the conditions are good, we have to swim’. The pilot said if we missed Tuesday the conditions might not be good for us on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. We had to be flexible.”

The team about to swim Loch Glenmore.
The team about to swim Loch Glenmore.

“We are happy with the time. After the swim we could really relax and we travelled for fun.”

Their idea of fun after swimming 36km in the Scottish wind and rain was more of the same.

“We went for another swim. A relaxation, cold water swim in another loch. We didn’t plan to swim there.”

The IT worker did not have a definitive answer on whether there is a monster lurking in the deeps of Loch Ness.

“We went to the Loch Ness Museum after our swim and I took some video as well. There was a tree branch drifting up and down in the water and you don’t see through the water. If people are drunk, or they don’t see clearly, they could think that is a monster.”

Mak certainly did during the swim.

The swimmers arriving at their starting point ahead of the Loch Ness swim.
The swimmers arriving at their starting point ahead of the Loch Ness swim.

“I haven’t seen the monster but sometimes a tree branch hit my head and my foot,” he said. “I felt that Nessie wanted to kick me and ask me to swim faster.”