THE COLD HALF

 See you on February 4, 2024

The Cold Half Marathon Swim is a 15km winter marathon 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. 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 75km cycle and 20km run on Hong Kong Island.

Medals and prizes for top 3 category and age-group winners.  Your entry also includes professional chip-timing, race swags, buffet for 1 and award ceremony.   For returning participants – race with your vintage Cold Half or Cold Plunge swimming cap and get a free muffin at the finish line!

We should finally be able to have a post-race awards ceremony and meal this year thanks to relaxed social distance rules, finally.  There will be category prizes for all three races. 

The event is organised by AVRA, supported by 26 Coaching, and sponsored by Streamline Sports.  

Scroll down for race details and registration.

 

Cold Half

Registration: 7:30am(TBC) by Sea School Pier near Stanley Main Beach

Start time: 8:00am(TBC)

Finish at Repulse Bay Beach (TBC)

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. 

Since swimmers will either have a support boat or a kayak, swim buoys are not mandatory for the Cold Half.  

Course Map will be updated this week. 

 

ColdXtreme Challenge

Registration: 6am(TBC) by Sea School Pier near Stanley Main Beach

Start time: 6:30am(TBC) or 7:30am(TBC)

Swim to Bike transition at Repulse Bay Beach

Bike to Run transition at Repulse Bay Beach

Finish at Repulse Bay Beach

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: 11am and 12pm(TBC). **

Start and finish at Repulse Bay Beach(TBC)

Categories

  • Age-group categories
    • Naturally Ocean: no wetsuit
    • Wetsuited & Buoyant: with wetsuit 

Points to Note

Swim buoys are mandatory for Cold Plunge. 

Depending on number of sign-ups, we will decide on start format.  The race registration page will ask you to submit your estimated finish time. 

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

Course Map will be announced this week.   

Get a Coach

If you would like some coaching for the Cold Plunge, Half, or Xtreme get in contact with Henry Wright at 26 Coaching. Henry has 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.

Registration and Payment

register

Registration closes on 22 January 2024. Early Bird will close on 25 December 2023. 

Distance

Early Bird

Standard

Cold Half 15km - solo

2,000

2,500

Cold Half 15km - relay

3,000

3,500

ColdXtreme 15/80/20km - solo

3,000

3,600

ColdXtreme 15(relay)/80/20km - half solo

4,000

4,600

ColdXtreme 15(relay)/80/20km - half team 5,000 5,600

Cold Plunge 1.5km

450

550

 

Registration price excludes transaction fees and safety boat or kayak 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.  

Cancellation 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. There is no refund or deferral for change of dates. 

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, however excluding merchandise sales and any transaction fees.  

 

Sponsor a Splash Swimmer splash

We have set up a 1+1 charity bundle option, so that swimmers can opt to pay an extra $300 to sponsor a Splash Swimmer to race the 1.5km Cold Plunge.

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. 

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.  

 

Exclusive Discounts:

Streamline Sports continues to support this race with an exclusive 20% discounts site-wise with code: COLD20, and a 30% discount for wetsuits with code: WET30.  Check out the wetsuits here

Contact 

Feel free to write to Shu at shu@avra.cc, or Whatsapp +852-51993314 if you have any questions.

 

Organized by

avra

Supported by

Prize sponsored by

 

Photos

2013 | 2014 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

 

Video  

2014 – Cable TV News: Fifty swimmers challenge the extreme swim

2020 - WOWSA News: Cold Half And Cold Plunge In Hong Kong

Results

ColdXtreme

2021

Cold Half

2023 | 20212020 | 20192018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Cold Plunge 

2023 | 20212020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

 

 

Course Records