时差N小时:上万人参与日月潭泳渡活动

　　Over 18,500 participants in 1,202 teams joined the26th annual mass swim across Sun Moon Lake inNantou County in central Taiwan.

　　来自1,202个队的超过18,500名游泳者参加了在台湾中部南投县举行的第26届大众游泳横渡日月潭的活动。

　　The swimmers also included 246 people fromAustralia, Great Britain, China, Hong Kong, Holland,Japan, Singapore and the United States, and 297physically challenged participants, the organizerssaid.

　　主办单位说，其中包括246名来自澳大利亚、英国、中国、香港、荷兰、日本、新加坡和美国的游泳者，另外还有297名残障人士。

　　The event kicked off at 7 a.m., and it took most of the participants 90 to 120 minutes tocomplete the approximately 3,000-meter swim. The Nantou County Government said that inview of the two deaths that occurred last year, they took special precautions this year. Measuresincluded deploying 20 top-notch diving professionals and equipping them with propulsionequipment and underwater GPS systems for the first 100 meters, known to be the mostdangerous stretch.

　　活动在上午7时拉开序幕。大多数游泳者花了90至120分钟才完成了大约3000米的泳程。南投县政府表示，鉴于去年发生的两人死亡事件，他们今年采取了特别的预防措施。措施包括：部署了20个顶尖的潜水专业人员，这些人员装备了推进设备;前100米还安装了水下GPS系统——因为前100米往往是最危险的阶段。

　　The event was also moved up to the end of August, instead of in mid-September or later whenit was usually held, in consideration of colder water temperatures later in the year. This year,an electronic board was erected at the starting point to show the temperature of the water forthe reference of the swimmers.

　　考虑到水温会逐渐变冷，活动将持续到八月底，而不是以往的9月中旬。今年，在出发点竖立了一个电子模板以显示水的温度。

　　The organizers also introduced a color-coded system this year so that the lifeguards could easilyidentify different groups of people. Physically challenged swimmers and those over 65 years ofage were required to wear pink swimming caps, while other participants were asked to wear redones.

　　主办单位还推出了彩色编码系统，这可以使今年的救生员很容易地识别不同的人群。残障人士和超过65岁的人都必须戴上粉红色的泳帽，而其他游泳者则被要求带上红色泳帽。