Shihmen Reservoir swim occurs despite protests

The activists urged the swimmers to withdraw from the annual activity, co-sponsored by the Taoyuan County government and the Masters Swimming Association of Taiwan, so as not to contaminate the 1.4 million tons of clean water it supplies a day.

Hsieh Ming-yen, an association executive responsible for its operations in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli areas, appealed to the activists and residents of northern Taiwan to be at ease, saying the participants had taken showers and gone to the bathroom before jumping into the water.

“This swim race has taken place for seven consecutive years to raise environmental awareness, and the reservoir's water has never been found to be polluted after the swim,” Hsieh said.

A number of swimmers also said that the 3,000-meter swim would not pollute the reservoir's catchment and described the protesters as “overreacting.”

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