A seven-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy swam across the Qiongzhou Strait between Guangdong Province and Hainan Island yesterday, becoming the youngest swimmers ever to cross the strait.

A 10-year-old Beijing girl swam across the strait in 2003.

The pair started from Hai'an of Xuwen County in Guangdong Province at 7:20 AM and swam for more than eight hours to cover the 27.1 kilometers. They reached Meilisha Peninsula of Haikou at 3:40 PM.

The boy, Hu Congtao, and his cousin Guo Siyu, are both primary school students in Shenzhen.

Hu learned to swim three years ago while Guo started swimming one year ago. Both had professional swimming lessons for one year. They were excited after they reached the destination and were awarded Guinness World Record certificates.

Guo said she swam just to break the record.

Opinions on the feat were divided. Some said the willpower of both children was inspiring. Others thought it was inappropriate for children to show off.

Sports experts and educators warned other children not to try the same thing.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2005)