Taipei, July 15 (CNA) An annual long-distance swimming event was held Sunday from Taiwan's outlying county of Kinmen to Xiamen in China's Fujian Province, attracting 174 swimmers from across Taiwan and China.

In its 10th year, the 7km race started in Kinmen's Lieyu Township and finished in Xiamen's Yefengzhai, with a midpoint at Kinmen's Pinlangyu islet, where the first swimmer in a two-person team, handed off to a second swimmer.

The starting point for the race alternates between Kinmen and Xiamen each year.

A total of 174 swimmers from Kinmen, Xiamen, Macau, and the rest of China took part in the competition, with mainland Chinese teams victorious in both the men and women's competition.

Taiwanese swimmers -- Cho Cheng-chi (卓承齊) and his younger brother Cho Pei-chi (卓沛齊) -- won second spot in the men's A group, while compatriots Tseng Kai-wen (曾楷文) and Liao Tzu-cheng (廖梓丞) took third in the same group.

Kinmen County Magistrate Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) hailed the success of the event, saying the area has witnessed a peaceful transformation in civilian exchanges between Taiwan and China, since the Cold War era in which there were no contacts and both sides were heavily fortified.

Yang expressed hope that the event will help attract more visitors to Kinmen to view the beauty of the former battleground.

Another non-competitive swimming event in Kinmen's Liaoluo Bay, which was scheduled to take place a day earlier for the 17th consecutive year, was canceled due to weather conditions.

(By Flor Wang and Huang Hui-min)
Enditem/AW