Rowers conquer unexpected exhausting currents to become the first four to row in relay around Lantau Island
- Ng Kong-wan expected marathon row in Hong Kong waters to be a breeze, but was in for a nasty surprise as he faced turbulent waters and currents
Four oarsmen took on challenging conditions to become the first such outfit to row the 72kms around Lantau Island at the weekend.
Ng Kong-wan, Rachel Humphreys, Tess Dolk and Andrea Tommasi took it in turns to row a pairs boat, covering about 36km each. The 24km stint between Fan Lau on the southwest tip of the island and Chek Lap Kok proved particularly difficult as they faced big waves and strong currents, said Ng.
“That stretch of water was unexpected, really, really tough,” Ng said. “The water came from every direction for 24km. We slowed down to just 500 metres every five minutes. I didn’t think anything, I just mechanically rowed and rowed and rowed.
“In my mind, I pictured the airport because I knew it would be fine from there,” he said. “I visualised landmarks and thought ‘OK’ as I passed this one and that one getting closer to the airport.”
Once the hellish stint had ended, the boat moved into a channel between the airport and Lantau Island where the water was flat. Ng and his team began to travel at 500 metres every two minutes and 30 seconds.
“It was total relief,” said Ng, 46.