Three teams combined to row a dragon boat from Chiayi County on Taiwan proper to Penghu County in the middle of the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday to promote the upcoming Citizens Sports Games in October.
Ting Tsung-ming (???), head of the Water Sports Committee of the Chiayi County Athletic Association, said the dragon boat voyage was organized as part of a warmup for the annual sports games to be held in Chiayi from Oct. 8-13.
A total of 77 people joined the dragon boat sailing challenge including three teams of rowers. They departed from a fishing port in Chiayi's Budai Township at 6 a.m., and arrived at Longmen Port in Penghu shortly before 4 p.m.
The three teams comprised members of the Taiwan Kuroshio Warriors rowing club, students and graduates of Minsyong Junior High School in Chiayi, and participants from around Taiwan, according to Yu Wei-li (???), coach of the junior high school canoe team.
The teams took turns every hour to complete the 56-kilometer journey.
Two of the students, Liu Chia-yuan (???) and Lo Tzu-Yang (???), told reporters in Penghu that it was a challenging voyage because the sea was rough and the weather was hot.
After spending a night in Penghu, the participants will return to Chiayi on boats or jet skis on Wednesday, while the dragon boat will be shipped back.
The event was organized by the Chiayi County Athletic Association, the Minsyong Junior High School canoe team, Taiwan Kuroshio Warriors, the Rescue Association of Changhua County and the Chiayi County Taibao Rescue Association.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel