Over 1,100 swimmers navigate Penghu Bay in inaugural Penghu Oceanman

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) The first Penghu Oceanman swimming competition opened Saturday in outlying Penghu County, featuring more than 1,100 swimmers in two events in Penghu Bay.

The annual competition, which was was originally known as the Cross Penghu Bay Swim, was upgraded into the two-day 2026 Penghu Oceanman, one of the competitions in the global Oceanman series and a qualifying event for the international Oceanman World Championship.

On Saturday and Sunday, around 2,550 athletes from 23 countries, including Japan, the United States, India, and Malaysia, were to compete in the waters of Penghu Bay.

The events held Saturday were the 10-kilometer Oceanman race, in which 150 swimmers competed, and the 2-km sprint, in which more than 950 competed.

In both events, the competitors swam out from the Guanyinting Recreation Area into Penghu Bay and back.

Accomplished athletes such as Hsu Wen-erh (許汶而), Taiwan's only holder of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, participated in the Saturday challenge in a bid to qualify for November's world championships in the Dominican Republic.

During the opening ceremony of the inaugural Penghu Oceanman, Penghu County Deputy Magistrate Lin Chieh-hsing (林皆興) celebrated the 24th anniversary of the outlying county's cross-bay swim.

He thanked Taiwan's counties and cities for their assistance in helping his county establish itself as a sports-centered tourism location, making the inaugural Penghu Oceanman, an international-level event, a possibility.

On Sunday, the 2026 Penghu Oceanman will hold its 5-km Half Oceanman swim, the 500-meter Oceankids, 3 x 500 m Oceanteams relay and 500 m Oceanadults race.

While the 5-km swim was set to start from the beach of Penghu's Daguoye Coast Guard Administration, it will instead start from the Guanyinting Recreation Area, the same starting point as for other races because of Sunday's weather and water conditions, the organizer said.

A 2.5 km stand up paddle (SUP) race that is not an official part of the international Oceanman competition will also take place on Sunday, because it has been a staple event held annually in the old version of the Penghu competition.