Swimming Against the Tide — and the Pollution

Hong Kong Island Swim, May 17, 1988

Ted didn’t just chase challenges.
He chased meaning.

While visiting Hong Kong in 1988, Ted set his sights on an ambitious goal: swimming around Hong Kong Island. But this wasn’t only about endurance — it was about awareness. The harbor’s pollution was a growing concern, and Ted wanted to draw attention to it the only way he knew how: by doing something almost unbelievably hard.

Before the swim, Ted sought out Hong Kong’s equivalent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency director. Over dinner with their families, they studied tide charts together. The official warned Ted that once the tides turned, the currents would fight him mercilessly. A support rowboat with two crew members would stay nearby for safety, and Elizabeth bravely agreed to be on board in case Ted needed help.

Then Ted stepped into the water.

For six hours, he pushed through the harbor, stroke after stroke, unknowingly swallowing polluted seawater as he went. When the tide finally shifted, the warning became reality. Ted swam with all his strength — but the island didn’t move. He wasn’t progressing. He was swimming in place, held captive by the current.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth battled a different enemy. The rough water tossed the small rowboat relentlessly, leaving her overheated and nauseated. Eventually, there was no choice.

The swim was over.

Back at the hotel, however, Ted’s effort made waves in a different way. Reporters from the Hong Kong Standard were waiting. They asked to photograph Ted cleaning up after the swim, and by the late edition, there he was — front page, sitting in a bathtub, the story highlighting the polluted waters he had just endured.

Even in failure, Ted had succeeded. People were talking.

That night, determined not to let the day end on a sour note, Ted suggested a celebratory family dinner aboard a beautifully lit floating restaurant in Hong Kong Harbor.

Elizabeth had just one response.

She never wanted to see another boat again.