THE COLD HALF

Race Date:
January 19, 2025

Race Registration is open - REGISTER HERE!

NEW CATEGORY:
3 Person Team!

The newest addition to the 2025 edition of the Cold Half - the 3 person relay team! 5km each, or changing swimmer every 30 minutes (must be in the same order for the entire race).

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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.

Medals and prizes for top 3 category and age-group winners. Your entry also includes professional chip-timing, race swag, post race food, and award ceremony.

There will be category prizes for all three races.

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

Scroll down for race details and registration.

Registration: 8:00am(TBC) by Sea School Pier near Stanley Main Beach

Start time: 9:00am(TBC)

Finish at Repulse Bay Beach

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 likely 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.

Age Limit & Temp Rules

Solo 15km Cold Half = 16+ Only, 14+ for Relay. For both races, Solo & Relay, All U16 swimmers MUST wear a wetsuit if water temp is below 20C.

For relay teams there are two options:

30/30 - A change is mandated at every 30 mins - for both 2 & 3 person relay teams . You must change in the same order every time.
5/5/5 - 3 Person Relay teams only - change at the 5km, and 10km point.
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.

Final Course Routing TBC

2024 Course:

Start and finish at Repulse Bay Beach

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).

Cold Plunge Course Map:

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 Race Director!

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

http://www.26coaching.com/

Registration and Payment

Below prices do not include support boat fees.

Distance	Early Bird	Standard
Cold Half 15km - solo	2,300	2,800
Cold Half 15km - relay (2 Person)	3,300	3,800
Cold Half 15km - relay (3 Person)	-	4,500
Cold Plunge 1.5km	450	550
Cold Plunge 1.5km - sponsored entry for foreign domestic worker swimmers by participants	Free	Free

Race Registration is open!

Click here to REGISTER!

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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 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 Foreign Domestic Swimmer

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

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

Thank you all for giving back to the swimming community!

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.