Alex Fong completes marathon swim around Hong Kong in record time

Prior to making his debut in the entertainment industry as a singer-actor, Alex Fong was a national swimmer, representing Hong Kong at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

On November 5, the 49-year-old set off for a 45km charity swim around Hong Kong to raise money for the charity, A Drop of Life. He started his swim before sunrise.

Alex eventually completed the swim at 3.38pm after 10 hours and 38 minutes in the water. In the process, the singer-actor broke the previous record for the fastest swim around Hong Kong. British swimmer Simon Holliday had set the previous record in 2017, taking 12 hours and 30 minutes to complete the route.

​Alex was given a hero’s welcome once he stepped out from the water. He was in high spirits despite looking visibly tired. It was later announced that he had raised a whopping HK$7.9 million (S$1.37 million) for A Drop of Life.

In an interview after his swim, Alex shared that he had faced his fair share of challenges due to the weather conditions. He made particular mention of a number of huge waves that had caused him to feel nauseous. However, he powered on and completed his swim regardless with the goal of raising as much money as possible for charity.