The forthcoming edition of Hong Kong’s iconic cross-harbour race will take on November 10, 2024 and will see the return of the Asian Open Water Swimming Championships after a 12-year hiatus. This year’s New World Harbour Race will also see the introduction of a new companion arrangement, allowing leisure swimmers to swim alongside a family member or friend. Registrations for the event open at 11am on August 6 and will close at 11:59pm on August 26.
Like last year, a maximum of 4,000 swimmers can participate in either the Racing Group or Leisure Group. Swimmers will start from the Golden Bauhinia Square Public Pier in Wan Chai at 7:30am and make their way across Victoria Harbour before finishing at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, swimming a total of 1km. Participants in the 11th Asian Open Water Swimming Championships will take a longer 5km course within the harbour before heading to the finish point at Tsim Sha Tsui.
All participants must meet eligibility requirements set by the organiser and pass the Time Trials held in September, except for those holding other recognised results. The trials will be held at the Tung Chung, Shing Mun Valley, and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park swimming pools. Leisure participants will be selected after undergoing a time trial, followed by a lots-drawing process.
The race first started as the Hong Kong Cross-Harbour Swim in 1906, but was suspended from 1942-1946 during World War II and subsequently halted in 1979 because of the polluted waters in Victoria Harbour. It was revived in 2011 as the New World Harbour Race, and has been held almost every year since then except for 2019 and 2020, when it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Image credits: New World Harbour Race
