RHKYC Moves for Hong Kong

WORD : BONITA LEUNG / RON KWOK / ELIZABETH WAI

AS Hong Kong was navigating its way through the 5th Covid wave in late February and the ensuing social distancing restrictions that prevented us from participating in team sports and getting on the water, a few members of the dragon boat subcommittee started to brainstorm ways to keeping the team active. But as we tossed ideas around on the best ways to get more active while staying connected as a team, we somehow also couldn’t stop talking about those less fortunate who were really struggling with the impact of the strict Covid restrictions because of their economic situation or otherwise. Was there a way for us to encourage each other to stay active while raising funds for those less fortunate, who might struggle with basic food security or might not even be able to afford the purpose of rapid antigen tests?

Over the next few weeks, the ‘Move for Hong Kong’ initiative came to fruition. What better way to encourage the team to stay active than by getting into a bit of friendly competition with other club sections while raising funds for those less fortunate? Teams would be formed based on the sporting section and would compete against both teammates and other sections for the top distance travelled, and most funds raised, for the month from 20 March through what would hopefully be the relaxing of certain social distancing restrictions of 20 April. Meanwhile, the Club’s own Charity Foundation was quickly identified as the entity that could funnel the earmarked funds through its established partner organizations so as to quickly identify and support those with the most needs and struggling the most during the pandemic. With the support of the Rowing and Paddling management, we quickly worked to identify an online platform that could support our initiative and the Charity Foundation also gamely agreed to trial the online platform to see if this could be a more efficient and

friendly means for donors to contribute to the Foundation to support its causes. Signups came quick: ultimately teams participating included the Royal X Dragonboat team, the Outrigger Canoe team, the Rowing section, the Etchells Fleet, and a team composed of staff from RHKYC. The Etchells fleet was excited, and press ganged by team leader Elizabeth Wai to be the first sailors to support this great Rowing and Paddling initiative. It brought together seasoned veterans and more junior members for a very worthy cause. The fittest of the fleet (arguably!) marched a group up the Morning Trail every week at blistering speeds and cajoled them with promises of a curry or takeout pizza afterwards. Another contingent one weekend added a quick hike of Po Toi Island before chowing down on some seafood. A poor sailor even had to do the hike twice when his puppy got distracted by butterflies and promptly ran off into the scrub only to get lost. There was also some friendly interclub competition. One sailor hoping to increase the team mileage bumped into the same rower for three consecutive weekends on the Violet Hill and the Twins trail. And all of the fleet got lovingly ribbed by Kid at the Main Bar, who teased us into catching up to the RHKYC Staff team! The workout challenge was a true team effort spanning the globe. The Etchells fleet is not always competitive, but throughout the challenge all the team were meticulously recording their kilometers and workout sessions to ensure they were not going to be bottom of the table! Members from 14 different boats participated, along with an Etcheller adding his kilometers from London Hyde Park (the only one allowed to run without his mask on!) and an HKSF sailor training in three different countries across Europe. A great cause that helped to motivate the fleet to keep fit during the long lockdown period. Now to keep it up! In the end, 139 fundraisers participated in the 1-month challenge, logging over 2000 activities. These individual activities contributed to almost ~20,000km distance covered, equivalent to going around Hong Kong Island more than 400 times! All in all, the Club’s athletes raised over HKD$68,000, stayed active, and had fun trying to outpace each other while staying connected to the Club.

Congratulations to the Royal X Dragonboat team for the most distance travelled, with the most funds raised, though the Outrigger team came in a very close second. Special recognition should also go to top individual performers Rob and Daniele! Daniele Ferraretto covered the most distance, coming in at 826km, while Rob Owen outpaced the other fundraisers coming in having raised HKD$5350!

Thanks so much to all who participated – we look forward to more friendly competition against other club sections while also helping those less privileged than us!