Without the confines of lane ropes or walls, the open water swimming is liberating, adventurous and unique that appeals to thrill-seekers.

Pu Shu believes in the ocean lifestyle and wants to help Hong Kong establish its own open water swimming in Victoria Harbour, similar to English Channel Swim and Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. In 2017 she founded HK360Swim with a charitable purpose, which is a 45km swim challenge through Victoria Harbour around Hong Kong Island.

The Challenge

Usually, the open water swimming racecourse tends to be long distance. The site is far away from those viewers who follow the challenge – audiences, donators, and sponsors. It is too hard to follow to get people engaged because much of the swim is too far away from shore.

Along with the excitement of the open water swimming comes the concern over challengers’ safety, putting much pressure on the organizers.

In consideration of challenges especially taking place in bustling Victoria Harbor, the official permission from the Marine Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is difficult to obtain unless proven safe for swimmers, crew and other users of the Victoria Harbour.

The Solution

Queclink and Follow My Challenge – dedicated to providing live GPS tracking maps for sports events and races since 2015, crafts a solution for Pu Shu to install Queclink’s GL300 series tracking device in the swimmer’s support kayak. The GL300 series tracking model not only ensures the safety of the swimmer and the crew, but also brings spectators, charities and the international open water swim community together to be engaged throughout the swim.

Follow My Challenge provides an exquisite map on HK360Swim’s website so that viewers can follow up the challenge in real-time. Audiences can get detailed information and live track waves, currents, swell, wind, temperature, clouds and rain during the racecourse.

Having used and worked with many other tracking devices and vendors in the region, Pu Shu has made her choice: “Among all the other tracking models, it turns out that the GPS & cellular connectivity of Queclink’s GL300 series is the best. It ensures a stable signal, leaving no risk of losing data and has helped me keep a record of almost zero failures since the first challenge,” noted Pu Shu.

The GL300 series maintains reliable performance and provides accurate data in real-time, which is integrated with Follow My Challenge’s map to deliver a seamless and engaging viewing experience.

The Benefits

“More and more people are getting to know HK360Swim and ready to get involved,” explained Pu Shu, “they are friends and families of challengers, open water enthusiasts, sporting event sponsors and caring donors.”

Queclink and Follow My Challenge’s solution has greatly made it more enjoyable for audiences with an added layer of all parties’ safety. It also facilities compliance with the HK360Swim’s official requirements to ratify the swim.

The increased visibility of HK360Swim has also won more sponsorship. Brands including Mercedes Benz, Red Bull and Move Free have sided with HK360Swim to help promote it to be recognized as a signature swim challenge in Asia.

So far quite a few swimmers and relay teams have participated in HK360Swim and contributed to society. Celebrities such as the Hong Kong swimming records holder Alex Fong took part in November 2019 and not only set a new solo record, but also raised over HK$ 10 million for charity and helped more than 450,000 people in need of clean water.

About Queclink

Since 2009 Queclink Wireless Solutions has been “Driving Smarter IoT”.

Queclink is a pure play IoT hardware designer and manufacturer working with many well-known industrial and consumer companies to bring innovative IoT solutions to market. Its business units span transportation, asset and mobility, networks and agriculture. With 35 million IoT products delivered to over 140 countries, Queclink inspires data-driven solutions for its worldwide customers.

For more information, visit our website, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook or contact sales@queclink.com.

About Follow My Challenge

Follow My Challenge has been focused on live GPS tracking maps for sports events and races since 2015. All maps, rich of features, can be customised to suit each event best. The map has been optimised for all platforms, from smartphone up to 4K screens.

All live GPS tracking maps come with many features like distance on track detection, leaderboards, event analytics, actual weather reports (inc temperature and wind/wind direction) and even a 3D view!

For more information, visit our website, Facebook or Instagram.

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