Alex Fong feeling nervous about upcoming 45-km swim

Alex Fong attended a promotional event for a watch brand yesterday (Oct 31), where he shared his thoughts about his upcoming charity swim, where he will swim 45 km around Hong Kong island on November 5.

With just five days to go before he takes on the challenge, the 49-year-old former Olympic swimmer admitted that he was feeling increasingly nervous. “I started making preparations over a year ago,” he revealed. “At first, I felt like there was still a lot of time to get ready, but all of a sudden, there are only a few days left. I do feel anxious and hope for it to be over as soon as possible, but I shall turn my pressure into motivation!”

Another source of his stress is the fact that so far, over HKD 4.7 million (about S$814,000) has been raised for the cause, which aims to provide clean water for 500,000 people. “It’s very encouraging but it also gives me a lot of pressure,” he said. “If I don’t complete the swim, I will be so ashamed!”

According to Alex, he plans to get into the water at about 5am on the day of the swim. “I will sleep at 6pm the day before and wake up to have breakfast at about 2am,” he shared. “I’m very worried I won’t be able to go to sleep! I’ve been trying to adjust my body clock by going to bed at 9pm every night, but that’s still not early enough.”

The singer-actor won’t be taking on the challenge alone the whole time, as his father and younger brother will join him in the final kilometre of the swim. “I’m very grateful for the support of my family,” he gushed. “To be honest, my mum was against me doing this at first because she was worried it would be too tough for me. She kept having nightmares about me falling sick.”

Photos: TPG