Making a splash in Hong Kong

American Brett Kruse fell in love with city swimming in Hong Kong and last year became the eighth person to swim around Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong is a little-known gem for open water swimming. You can always find an adventure with manageable water temperatures all year, hundreds of islands to explore and the one of the prettiest skylines in the world. I can’t think of a better urban setting with access to so much open water swimming.

After moving here two years ago, I quickly fell into the local swimming community. Southside Swimming Hong Kong soon became my social network and the source of positive peer pressure. The pinnacle accomplishment locally is swimming around the entirety of Hong Kong island. A 45km voyage that takes you past the iconic skyline and also the wild seldom seen side of the island. There are two ways to complete the task – you can join the annual relay fundraiser for the Splash Foundation or set off to do it solo for the HK360, which is organised by Shu Pu.

The full 360 swim had only been completed by seven people when I heard of it. The rarity of task intrigued me. I opted for the solo effort, but decided to also raise money for Splash, a local non-profit who teach underserved communities to swim inHong Kong. The 45km distance was 15 times longer than any swim I had done in the past, but with the support of my new friends and access to so much open water, I felt I could build to it. Like many life goals, once you commit, the world around you starts to reveal aspects to make it happen. Southside Swimming, managed by Edie Hu, generously rallied to support.

Weekly casual swims quickly increased in frequency and duration. Now 95% of my training was in open water. Probably not advisable, but I know myself well enough to know I need the variety and adventure of open water swimming to keep me motivated. I have never been a pool swimmer. We applied for the required permits and found a suitable date. Autumn provides the most predictable currents and water temperatures.

Unfortunately, 2024 was an odd typhoon season and my date was pushed multiple times, requiring lots of replanning. Thankfully Shu, the organiser, was a pro at this dance and calmly adjusted to the dynamics. To support me on the swim I recruited a couple of members of our local swim crew, Edie Hu and Janis Mok as well as a couple of my old swim crew from Seattle, friend Robin Sherwood and my brother Kyle Kruse.

The swim began at 2am. The time was largely dictated to enable you to get through the busy Hong Kong harbour prior to the ferries and commercial activity beginning. The advantage is you get the entire harbour to yourself with amazing views. After the skyline view comes the most dramatic section; Big Wave Bay was named that way for a reason. Tackling it in the dark adds more adventure. While it was rough for me, it felt worse for my support boat as I witnessed them rocking and rolling next to me. Knowing my two kids were on the boat meant I would shift my mindset from athlete to parent as I worried about them. Thankfully, they took it in their stride. I got new energy as the sun rose and I turned the corner on the south side of the island.

Now I was in familiar water as this is where all our training swims occur. The familiar sights of satellites at Stanley peninsula and my apartment in Repulse Bay drifted by as I got my rhythm. At this stage I was physically tired, but my support crew was vital to keep me going. My feeds were every 45 minutes and consisted of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem supplied by Escapade Sports. While I have historically struggled with endurance fuels late in races, the Hammer products served me well in the training and throughout the day.

In the final kilometres, my support crew got word of a crowd of supporters at the shore. Apparently, my daughter’s classmates from The Harbour School had been following the action online and rallied to come cheer me back. About 80 kids and teachers got to skip class!

As I approached the end, my support team hopped in the water to flank me as I finished. Feeling like a wounded warrior returning from battle, I touched shore after 11 hours and 32 minutes of swimming. Beating my expected time by an hour and only 45 minutes off the record. The record was never an expectation, and I was thrilled to become the eighth person to complete it. If you are looking for a great swim location, come join us in Hong Kong!

Brett has raised HK$61,000 so far for the Splash Foundation. To show your support visit give.asia/campaign/brett-kruse-hk360-for-splash-foundation