COLD HALF REGISTRATION PAGE

The Cold Half Marathon Swim is a 15km winter marathon charity swim on Hong Kong Island from Stanley Main Beach to Deep Water Bay Beach. This is a solo or 2-person relay race.

For those who love swimming in the chill but mind the extreme distance, you can sign up for the 1.5km Cold Plunge race, which is happening concurrently in Deep Water Bay Beach. This is the only winter swimming event of its kind in Hong Kong.

For extreme triathletes, the inaugural ColdXtreme Challenge starts with a Cold Half solo or relay swim, followed by a virtual self-supported 80km cycle and 20km run on Hong Kong Island.

Souvenirs will be provided for all participants. For returning participants – race with your vintage Cold Half or Cold Plunge swimming cap and get a free muffin at the finish line!

Due to social distancing restrictions there will be a socially distanced post-race awards ceremony and meal. There will be category prizes for all three races. There will be outdoor hot showers.

The event is organised by AVRA and supports Splash Foundation. Splash Foundation provides free learn-to-swim lessons to the under-privileged communities in Hong Kong. It has taught thousands how to swim and some of their graduates have become active open water swimmers. Please consider sponsoring 1 or more entries on a discounted rate for Splash swimmers.

Scroll down for race details and registration.

Cold Half

Registration: 8:30am by Sea School Pier at Stanley Main Beach

Start time: 9:30am or 10:30am at Stanley Main Beach

Finish at Victoria Recreation Club, Deep Water Bay

Cut-off time: 6 hours (cut off – 5 hours at Round Island)

Please contact the race organiser if unsure about your ability to finish in time. This event is for advanced swimmers only.

Categories

Solo

Naturally Ocean: no wetsuit
Wetsuited & Buoyant: with wetsuit

Relay

Naturally Ocean: no wetsuit
Wetsuited & Buoyant: with wetsuit

Points to Note

Limit to a maximum 30 solo swimmers due to limited availability of safety support. A motorboat or a kayak & support paddler is mandatory for 15km solo swimmers.

There will be two start times. If your estimated finish time is over 4.5 hours, please select the earlier start. You may be penalised if you choose the early start but complete in under 4.5 hours.

For relay teams there are two options:

30/30 - A change is mandated at every 30 mins
Half/Half - There is one change only at the 7.5km point

A support motorboat is mandatory for all 15km relay teams. A “Yak” relay(paddle/swim) may be accepted for relays, upon the organiser’s assessment of race day temperature and condition. For Yak Relay teams, a wetsuit is mandatory and inflatable kayaks/support craft is not permitted.

Course Map

cold-half-map

ColdXtreme Challenge

Registration: 6am by Sea School Pier at Stanley Main Beach

Start time: 6:30am or 7:30am at Stanley Main Beach

Swim to Bike transition at Victoria Recreation Club, Deep Water Bay

Bike to Run transition at Victoria Recreation Club, Deep Water Bay

Finish at Victoria Recreation Club, Deep Water Bay

Cut-off times: swim leg - 6 hours (cut off – 5 hours at Round Island) - aiming to start bike leg before 2pm.

Qualifying times: the race organiser will ask you for qualifying swim times after registration (10km swim for solo, 5km swim for relay).

Please contact the race organiser if unsure about your ability to finish by the cut-off times. This event is for advanced triathletes only.

Categories

Solo
Relay

There will be no categories for wetsuit or skin, but your swim time counts as part of the Cold Half race and you could potentially be a category winner.

Points to Note

Please see Cold Half section for rules regarding the swim leg. Swimmers are required to swim with lights until 7:30am.

For the ColdXtreme Half Solo, a two person team swims the Cold Half as a relay (either 7.5km/7.5km, or 30-30 legs). Only one person will complete the run and bike legs.

For the ColdXtreme Half Team, a two person team swims the Cold Half as a relay(either 7.5km/7.5km, or 30-30 legs). Both person will complete the run and bike legs together. The official finishing time for each leg and the complete challenge is the time of the slowest team member.

The bike and run legs are virtual, self-supported individual (or group of two) challenges with no fixed start/finish time.

Head torch is recommended for the run leg as parts of the route are not on main roads. A live GPS tracker, which will be provided, is mandatory.

Course Maps

(last updated 03 Dec 2021)

Swim

coldxtreme-map

Bike

Download bike course map/GPX here (Garmin)

Download bike course map/GPX here (Strava)

Run

Download run course map/GPX here (Garmin)

Download run course map/GPX here (Strava)

Cold Plunge

**Registration and start time: please refer to briefing email for details**

Finish at Victoria Recreation Club, Deep Water Bay

Categories

Age-group categories

Naturally Ocean: no wetsuit
Wetsuited & Buoyant: with wetsuit

Points to Note

Based on social distancing measures we be hosting this race as a time trial. The race registration page will ask you to submit your estimated finish time.

We are offering discounts for bulk registrations (more than 10 swimmers) through triathlon and swim clubs. For details on how to register, please contact Shu (shu@avra.cc).

Course Map

cold-plunge-map

Get a Coach

If you would like some coaching for the Cold Plunge, Half, or Xtreme get in contact with Henry Wright at Hong Kong's newest coaching company - Wright Coaching. The Wright Coaching family have extensive swimming and triathlon coaching experience, and unique knowledge of the Cold Half and Cold Plunge - having competed in both multiple times! Henry will also be there on race day as the Guest Race Director!

Henry's tips on how to prepare and train for a successful Cold Half can be found here.

www.wright-coaching.com

Registration and Payment

Registration closes on 10 January 2023. Early Bird will close on 15 December 2022.

Distance	Early Bird	Standard
Cold Half 15km - solo	1,950	2,400
Cold Half 15km - relay	2,950	3,400
ColdXtreme 15/80/20km - solo	2,950	3,600
ColdXtreme 15(relay)/80/20km - half solo	3,950	4,600
ColdXtreme 15(relay)/80/20km - half team	4,950	5,600
Cold Plunge 1.5km	450	500

Registration price excludes transaction fees and safety craft support (if required). Please check the registration link for details.

All Cold Plunge entry payment and registration must be made online. There may be extra credit card processing fees exclusive of registration fees.

Cold Half and ColdXtreme registrants have the option to pay online or offline.

For offline payment, please still register yourself or your team via the link above, but do not proceed with the credit card payment at the very end. Make a direct bank transfer, with all bank fees charged to yourself if any, to HSBC# 652-237231-838 (account name: Shu Shu Limited). Email your payment proof to shu@avra.cc or whatsapp to Shu@ +852-51993314. We will confirm your registration once your payment has cleared.

Refund policy:

There is no refund if you cancel or do not show.

In the event that we are unable to host the event due to government restrictions or adverse weather conditions, we will reschedule the race on a fall-back date. If it is our decision to cancel the race, full registration fees and add-ons including support/boat/kayak rental/support paddler hires will be refunded, but excluding merchandise sales and any transaction fees.

Sponsor a Splash Swimmer

We have set up a 1+1 charity bundle option, so that swimmers can opt to pay an extra $250 to sponsor a Splash Swimmer to race the 1.5km Cold Plunge.

We have 20 slots on offer. Swimmers can sponsor up to 10 Splash swimmers by filling up the last option on the registration page before checking out.