Hundreds took part in a world record by swimming across open water carrying a huge flag to celebrate the 79th Indonesian independence day.

The 318 swimmers aged between 9 and 72 managed to carry the 5 by 20 metre flag a distance of a 8.036km,

The attempt was recorded by the Indonesian Record Museum.

Coinciding with the celebration of the 79th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia, 318 swimmers pulled a giant red and white flag measuring 5 by 20 meters in the sea waters of Lampung Province, Indonesia, on Saturday (17 August 2024).

The swimmers who came from the Lampung Inter-Island Swimmers community started swimming while pulling the flag from Gunung Kunyit Beach, Bandar Lampung City, to Mutun Beach, Pesawaran Regency with a total distance of more than 8 thousand meters.

The participants, ranging from 9-year-old children to 72-year-old seniors, were very enthusiastic about participating in an activity called "Swim for Freedom" in enlivening the 79th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia.

The swim was also attended by swimmers from outside Lampung such as Palembang, Banten, Jakarta, and Semarang. This activity is expected to strengthen the sense of nationalism and patriotism of the participants who take the trouble to swim up to 8 kilometers.

Based on the recorded distance, swimming in open water carrying the red and white flag managed to reach a distance of 8,036 meters.

Senior Customer Relation Manager of the Indonesian Record Museum, Andre Purwandono said, this result also managed to break the world record recorded by the Indonesian Record Museum.

SOUND ON TAPE: Andre Purwandono - Senior Customer Relation Manager Museum Rekor Indonesia
((So what we measure today is the furthest distance, not the swimmer, not the fastest time, but the distance from Kunyit Beach to Mutun Beach and it was recorded as 8.036 KM away and this is a world record. Why is it a world record? Because we believe that only Bandar Lampung, Lampung Province, Pesawaran can carry the red and white flag with a distance of 8.036 KM and this is done by the Inter-Island Swimmer Community in Lampung and this is a very extraordinary activity and deserves our appreciation.))