Swimming the Mekong to Save it

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Around 200 competitors from as far apart as Cambodia, England, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States of America came together in a race across the mighty Mekong River to raise awareness on the importance of conserving this remarkable river, and have a good time doing it.

Some of the Competitors

The 10th Annual Mekong River Swim sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation, WWF, was held just outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday 3rd April 2005. Cheered on by the crowd assembled on the shore and in the three official spectator boats, the swimmers – ranging from international former professionals and members of the Cambodian National Swim Team, to recreational swimmers and those in fancy dress – competed over the approximately 700m crossing.

Before the race, many competitors and journalists alike were concerned about the health risks associated with swimming in the murky waters of the Mekong, and the issue became a hot topic of discussion around the registration tables. However, organizers were keen to point out that while there is always a slight risk associated with swimming in rivers, the cloudy waters of the Mekong are as a result of fine sediment floating in the water, rather than high levels of pollution. In fact a key message of this year's swim was how remarkable intact and clean the Mekong River is compared to many other very large rivers around the world.

Swimming the Mekong

It is the relatively intact and pristine nature of the Mekong River that makes it so important both biologically and socially – with over 1,300 species of fish estimated to be found in the river basin and an annual fishery worth in excess of US$1.5 billion. Rob Shore, who was attending the race on behalf of the WWF Living Mekong Program, said that “We hope that the participants and spectators that came out for today's event, as well as many more people that will see the event on television, radio and in the press, will have a better understanding of how important maintaining the health of this river system is for the millions of people, and thousands of other species, that depend upon it”.

Registration Underway

Every year the race is started by a well-known Cambodian who embodies the spirit of the event. Last year's event was opened by Ms. Chhuon Kun who won five medals, including 2 gold, for swimming at the 1971 Southeast Asian Peninsula Games. This year's event played host to one of Cambodia's most cherished and celebrated musicians – Mr. Kong Nai. Kong Nai, who plays the traditional Chapei Dong Veng (a long-necked, two-string guitar), has an amazing history and some incredible stories to go along with it. During the Khmer Rouge regime he was forced to perform songs of praise about the regime to some of its leaders, but now he gets his music to a wider audience through frequent TV performances and teaching his art to students at several institutions. Kong Nai is famous for developing his lyrics spontaneously while singing, and during his performance at the Mekong River Swim he included songs about the importance of the fisheries of the Mekong and the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin – which was used by Cambodian artist Sath Vuth as the logo for this year's swim.

Kong Nai and his Chapei Dong Veng

Although the main focus of the event was to enjoy the atmosphere of a day on the Mekong, there was of course also the serious matter of a race to be won, and that honor fell to Greg Hallen (9 minutes 13 seconds) and Bae Soo Jin (12 minutes 43 seconds) in the men's and woman's classifications respectively. The winners were presented with their awards during the post-race celebrations on the banks of the Mekong. Ken White, head of the Mekong River Swim Organising Committee concluded the event by saying “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your participation in the event, which I believe has been a great success, and would especially like to thank all the dedicated volunteers that helped put the event on”.