Swimmers set off from Chaowu Pier at the annual Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival in Nantou County yesterday. Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times

By Hsieh Chieh-yu, Liu Pin-chuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Nearly 20,000 people yesterday took part in the 35th annual Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival, while the increasing use of waterproofed cellphones during the swim triggered safety concerns.

The 19,862 participants included 896 swimmers from 36 countries, including the US, China, Japan and England, and 243 physically challenged people.

Participants swam 3km from Chaowu Pier （朝霧） to Ita Thao Pier （伊達邵）, which takes a good swimmer an average of between 40 minutes and one hour to complete.

Many swimmers could be seen taking selfies as they swam, including some with self-sticks, leading some observers to say that the Nantou County Governnment needed to address the issue.

Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen （林明溱）, Nantou Department of Education Director Lee Meng-chen （李孟珍） and Nantou Public Health Bureau Director Huang Chao-yang （黃昭郎） said that safety, an active lifestyle and tourism were focuses of this year’s event.

There were fewer injuries related to the use of flotation devices this year, thanks to stricter regulations, the trio said.

Now that technology has made it possible for swimmers to use cellphones while in the water, authorities must discuss how this can be done safely, they said, adding that traffic concerns related to getting to and from the event as well as the scheduling of competitions would also be discussed.

At 7:30am, prior to the start of the swim, Lin joined former president Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） and Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Chairman Wu Den-yih （吳敦義） in a symbolic releasing of 10,000 newly hatched fish from Shuishe Pier （水社）.

Lin, Ma and 42 Nantou County officials also joined the swim. Lin completed the course for the first time this year, in three hours and six minutes, becoming the first Nantou commissioner to finish the event.

Two other swimmers were recognized. Yeh Li-cheng （葉禮誠） was presented with a certificate in recognition of his participation in the event for the past 25 years, while Hau Po-tsun （郝柏村）, who is almost 100, said he swims to stay healthy.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

A man takes a photograph of a selfie-taker yesterday during the Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival in Nantou County. Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times

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