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The 41st Sun Moon Lake International Cross-lake Swimming Carnival was grandly launched on September 24th, with a total of 1,935 teams signing up to participate. More than 24,000 swimmers, including former President Ma YingJeou, took on the challenge of crossing the Sun Moon Lake with a total of 3,000 meters. County Mayor Hsu ShuHua thanked all the staff for their assistance at the opening of the event, and also emphasized that safety comes first and wished the event will be a success. The Sun Moon Lake International Cross-lake Swimming Carnival was kicked off at 7:00 a.m. with 195 swimmers with disabilities taking the lead in getting in the water. Later, with the assistance of students from Mingtan Elementary School, 10,000 fish fries of president fish (Aruzay Fish) were stocked at Shuishe Pier by several guests, including County Mayor Hsu, Deputy County Mayor Wang RuiDe, former President Ma YingJeou, member of Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, Lai LiXing, Head of Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Headquarters Jian QingFa, county councilors Chien ChienHsiang, Yu Hao and Lin FangYu, Mayor of Yuchih Township Liu ChiFan, Head of Puli Four-season Swimming Association Chen ChungWu, and General Manager of Shin Kong Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Huang MinYi. Afterwards, everyone went to the Chaowu Pier for the opening ceremony. County Mayor Hsu, together with former President Ma and other guests, fired a gun to officially launch the 2023 Sun Moon Lake International Cross-lake Swimming Carnival. Former President Ma then got in the water with other swimmers, starting his personal challenge in completing his swimming record of swimming across Sun Moon Lake for the 10th time. According to County Mayor Hsu, the Sun Moon Lake International Cross-lake Swimming Carnival is very popular among domestic and foreign swimmers, and attracted more than 24,000 swimmers to take apart this year. Swimmers from all over Taiwan and all registered teams and groups are welcome to echo the “Swimming Up! Project.” In the other hand, to cooperate with the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education, Nantou County Government promotes the “Sports i Taiwan Project” and hold international sports events with the brand of Taiwan, making the Sun Moon Lake International Cross-lake Swimming Carnival a truly world-class sports event and hence enhancing the development of sports tourism industry and economic business opportunities in Nantou. Besides, she expressed her gratitude to all the major domestic corporations for their sponsorship of event-related supplies and equipments, especially to the corporations such as Vitalon Foods Co., Ltd. and Shin Kong Life Insurance Co., Ltd. for their long-term sponsorship. This year, due to the easing of the global pandemic and the opening of borders, a total of 317 international swimmers from 33 countries, including the United States, participated. In the event, 61 para swimming teams, with a total of 195 swimmers, took the lead in the water. For people with disabilities, swimming across Sun Moon Lake stands for their fearlessness in life, their insistence on never giving up and their courage to challenge themselves. They are the best example for swimmers. All swimmers were on shore at 2:22 p.m. In terms of medical services, with the support of medical staffs from 5 hospitals, 154 swimmers were served with medical services in the ambulance stations last year mainly for hypothermia, cramps and dizziness, while 218 were served this year on September 24th mainly for hypothermia, cramps, dizziness, bruises, and chest tightness. Among which, 90 people with bruises, 52 with cramps, 55 with chest tightness, 19 with hypothermia, 1 unconscious, and 1 with hand fracture.