Long-distance swimmers in $3m splash

Five teams of swimmers - ranging from Olympic athletes Camille Cheng Lily-mei, Toto Wong Kwan-to and Jasmine Alkhaldi to people new to open-water - came together for the inaugural Make Waves for Hong Kong, a 45-kilometer, multi-relay around Hong Kong Island that raised over HK$3 million.

A thousand donors of the Splash Foundation provided the power for the swim. It runs free swimming programs for underprivileged individuals including kids with special needs and domestic workers.

The first team reached the finish line in 10 hours 14 minutes and 55 seconds, while the final one took 11 hours and 26 minutes.

"It's been an incredible experience to do this swim again," said Olympian Cheng. "Hopefully one day it will be the norm that everyone in Hong Kong can swim."

Besides the accomplished swimmers there were stand-outs like Rachael Guan, a breast cancer survivor who said: "I've come such a long way - from accepting the challenge, committing to training, to completing the swim."