Khoo Swee Chiow
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Khoo Swee Chiow (simplified Chinese: 邱瑞昭; pinyin: Qiū Ruìzhāo; born 1964 in Port Dickson, Malaysia) is a Singaporean adventurer, author and motivational speaker.
[edit] Expeditions and feats
Khoo climbed Mount Everest in 1998 as a member of Singapore's first Mount Everest expedition. In 1999, he skied to the South Pole as the leader of Singapore first Antarctica expedition, covering a distance of 1,125 km in 57 days. In 2001, he climbed Mount Ararat in Turkey together with six other Everest summitters from Turkey, Colombia, the United States and Mexico as part of a Peace Climb project to raise funds and promote international friendship. In that same year, he climbed Shishapangma in Tibet becoming the first South East Asian to climb an 8,000-metre peak without supplemental oxygen.
In 2002, he skied to the North Pole with Arctic guide Paul Landry and a dog named Apu, after failing the previous year due to frostbite on a finger. Khoo becomes the first South East Asian and the fourth person in the world to complete "The Adventure Grand Slam," that is, the South Pole, the North Pole and the Seven Summits. He lost his bid to sail around the world in 2003, as his expedition was canceled due to lack of funding during the SARS outbreak and Iraq War period.
In that same year, he cycled from Singapore to Beijing in 73 days covering 8,066 km. In 2004, Khoo attempted to climb Mount Everest without oxygen but had to turn back 400 metres below the summit due to exhaustion.
On December 5, 2004, he successfully swam the Straits of Malacca from Tanjung Rupat in Indonesia to Port Dickson, in 22 hours over a distance of 40 km. He had been inspired to perform this feat at the age of six, after watching a Japanese man who was the first man to ever swim across the straits, starting his swim in front of his house. His attempt at swimming the English Channel in the summer of 2005, however, was unsuccessful due to hypothermia.
On December 25, 2005, Khoo broke the world record for the longest scuba dive done in a controlled environment, in this case in a tank. He stayed in the mineral-water-filled tank at Tampines Central for 220 hours, breaking the record by 7 hours and 30 minutes, surpassing British diver Michael Steven's 1986 record.
On May 23, 2006, together with Malaysian CEO Vincent Loh, age 51, Khoo reached the summit of Mount Everest for a second time, making him the first and only South East Asian to summit Mt Everest twice.
[edit] Books
In August 2003, he published his first book called Journeys to the Ends of the Earth. His second book "Singapore to Beijing on a Bike" is published in June 2007. Khoo is married and has a son and daughter. His motto is "Dare To Dream".
