03/04/2005 – Around 200
participants from as far away as England,
Japan, New Zealand and the United States competed
in a race across the Mekong to raise awareness
of the river's biological and social importance.
The 10th Annual Mekong River Swim, sponsored
by WWF, was held just outside the Cambodian
capital of Phnom Penh. Cheered on by large
crowds along the river's shore, the swimmers
– ranging from professionals and amateurs
to the members of the Cambodian National Swim
Team – competed in the approximately 700m
crossing.
Greg Hallen (9 minutes 13 seconds) and Bae
Soo Jin (12 minutes 43 seconds) won the men’s
and woman’s classifications respectively.
“We hope that the participants and spectators
that came out for today’s event 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,” said Rob Shore
of WWF's Living Mekong Programme.
The Mekong River is home to over 1,300 species
of fish, including the giant Mekong catfish
(Pangasianodon gigas), which can grow to over
300 kilograms and may have historically migrated
up to 2000 kilometers. The river's annual
fishery is worth in excess of US$1.5 billion.
Despite concerns about competiting in the
Mekong's murky waters, 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 a result
of fine sediment floating in the water, rather
than high levels of pollution.
"A key message of this year’s swim is
how intact and clean the Mekong River is compared
to many other very large rivers around the
world," Shore added.
