Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-04
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
The annual Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival took place on Sept 3 and Sept 4 with 
more than 20,000 swimmers.
Beginning to be part of the swimming event from last year, the 3,000m and 5,000m Open Water competitions for elite swimmers with national or international competition experience were held one day earlier, on Saturday, Sept 3.
Former President Ma Ing-jeou, who presided over the opening ceremony of the Sunday mass swimming event across the lake with Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen, also took part in the competition. Ma finished the 3,000m swim in one hour and 38 minutes.
After the swim Ma said that Sun Moon Lake is the best place in Taiwan for long distance swimming and that holding the event only once every year is a pity, recommending Lin to hold the event three times in a year, in spring, summer and fall, to allow more people to participate and find more swimming talents for the country.
Nantou is Taiwan’s only inland county but is home to the famous Sun Moon Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in Taiwan. The east side of the lake resembles a sun while the west side resembles a moon, thus the name. [FULL STORY]
