If the circumstances permit, I now swim once, twice or even thrice a day in a private or public swimming pool or in any Hong Kong beaches. My main objective is to exercise my body so that I might add years to life. While cool in the water alone, I would engage in critical thinking and discover more about myself.
My swimming practice began in the early 1960s. I dared walk long distances to a Hung Shui Kiu hillside pool in the dark and played with water alone before attending the morning primary school. If I could afford to pay the bus fare, I would go with others to Castle Peak Beach, Kadoorie Beach and Cafeteria Beach on Sundays.
When I worked as a waiter in the Castle Peak Hotel from 1969-1973 , I swam at the Hotel beach. When I worked as a bar-tender in the Lido Restaurant and Nightclub in the Summer of 1973, I swam in Repulse Bay. Then, I worked and studied hard, and only resumed swimming in pools of Hong Kong PolyU and HKU in the early 1980s.
Whenever I check in hotels, I would not miss swimming in hotel pools. If I could not check in five-star hotels, like during my dozens of business trips to Geneva, I would make use of public ones. If the water is cool or cold, my solution to avoid becoming ill is to swim backstrokes first, using my back to insulate my lung against the initial contact - and it works!