Gold Garnered by Foreign Swimmer in Yangtze River Crossing Festival

By Xu Kuang

Gold Garnered by Foreign Swimmer in Yangtze River Crossing Festival

By Xu Kuang

“Crossing the great Yangtze River, the eternal sky spreads endlessly. ” Swimming across the Yangtze River in Wuhan has historically been a popular activity. In the past 61 years, tremendous changes have been witnessed in Wuhan City and Wuhan International Yangtze River Crossing Festival has become one of the city’s in fluential cultural events.

China’s Chairman Mao Zedong had his first swim in the Yangtze River in Wuhan in 1956, after which was born the famous poem Swimming. In the 10 years following his first experience, he swam in the Yangtze River more than 10 times. It was in 1956 that the first Yangtze River crossing competition was held. Since then, it has become a wellknown festival of Wuhan City.

Therefore, with a halt in the tradition in 2016 due to flooding, Wuhan International Yangtze River Crossing Festival was back on July 16th,2017 and it was a great showcase of the charms of the city and the river.

This year the swimmers were divided into two groups:the timed competition joined by professional swimmers,and the amateurs’ session. The competition had attracted more than 10 foreign professional swimmers from Germany, the U.S., Sweden, and other countries.

“萬里長江橫渡，極目楚天舒”，武漢橫渡長江活動歷史悠久，久負盛名，見證武漢61年巨變，武漢國際渡江節成為當地富有特色的城市文化名片。

1956年，毛澤東在武漢首次暢游，游后乘興寫個著名的《水調歌頭?游泳》。往后十年間，他在武漢暢游長江十余次。也是在1956年，武漢舉辦新中國成立后的第一屆橫渡長江競賽。從此，橫渡長江成為武漢的標志。

于是，2016年因長江防汛任務重而取消的武漢國際渡江節，今年7月16日重磅歸來，向世界展示武漢和長江的魅力。

本屆渡江節分為專業運動員的搶渡賽和群眾方陣橫渡兩個部分。搶渡賽吸引德國、美國、瑞典等國家的10名外籍選手參賽。

最終，男子冠亞軍被瑞典選手包攬。克里斯蒂安·阿克塞爾·埃里克隆和上屆渡江節冠軍西蒙·萬那相隔4秒，相繼登岸。女子組的前三名均為武漢選手。

報告文學作家黎笙作為學生方陣的一員，1966年時，曾與毛澤東一起游泳橫渡長江。

● Left: the Brone Medalist; Middle: the Gold Medalist; Right: the Silver Medalist男子搶渡賽前三名（左起：季軍冠軍亞軍）

At last, the men’s gold was won by Swedish swimmer,Christian Axel Ericlong, who was merely 4 seconds faster than the gold winner of last year, Simon Wana. The top three female winners were all from Wuhan.

Li Sheng, now a reportage writer, was once a student participant in 1966 to cross the river together with Chairman Mao Zedong.

He said that the tradition of crossing the Yangtze River in Wuhan had been known internationally very early in 1961 when British Marshal Montgomery visited China and was invited to watch Chairman Mao Zedong swimming across the Yangtze River. He was also given the poem Swimming autographed by Chairman Mao as a gift before he went back to Britain.

“Swimming across the Yangtze River used to be just a fun sport for the people but now it has become an annual festival. It is Wuhan’s city card, ” said Li Sheng. Now,Wuhan is an international cosmopolitan city. Into the new era, Wuhan’s city planning was centered around the Yangtze River, which gives the festival a new meaning, that is, for building a better Wuhan, we shall unite as one and act in unity.

Wuhan International Yangtze River Crossing Festival bears an important mission for the future of this city.Economically, Wuhan should develop in an innovative manner, for example, initiating a new city of the Yangtze River; Culturally, this mega city will demonstrate its people’s strong will against hardship and also their passion for life.

Hu Liuming, a local writer, has suggested that the festival should welcome more international participants just as how marathons and bicycle races do. All forms and types of media should be involved to introduce the event to home and abroad bilingually in Chinese and English. What’s more, foreigners working in international organizations should be invited to join the event so as to let more people know of Wuhan internationally.

She hopes that Wuhan International Yangtze River Crossing Festival can truly become an international carnival.

(Translation：Zhang Lei)

● Left: the Brone Medalist; Middle: the Gold Medalist; Right: the Silver Medalist女子搶渡賽前三名（左起：季軍冠軍亞軍）

他認為，武漢渡江傳統很早就在國際上有過“表達”。1961年，英國元帥蒙哥馬利訪華，受邀在武漢的輪船上觀看毛澤東游泳，回國前，他還獲贈毛澤東親筆書寫的詞《水調歌頭·游泳》。

“橫渡長江，以前只是一種全民體育鍛煉，演變為每年一度的節日，成為一項群眾性的宣示活動，對這座城市形象的宣示。”黎笙說，武漢是一座國際大都市，在新的歷史時期，武漢長江主軸的規劃和建設，賦予長江橫渡活動新的內涵：建設大武漢，我們要團結一心，眾志成城。

武漢國際渡江節今后要擴大其品牌影響力，需將渡江活動與新的歷史高度結合起來：在經濟上，要建設一座長江新城；在文化上，要展示我們這座超級大城砥礪前行、不畏困難的精神風貌。

武漢作家胡榴明提議，國際渡江節應歡迎更多世界各國選手報名參加，如國際馬拉松和自行車賽那樣。啟動各種傳播媒介和傳播方式，將武漢國際渡江節的新聞向全中國民眾宣傳、向全世界民眾宣傳，要做到廣為人知，傳播文字和語言要中英雙語。邀請在武漢的國外企事業機構相關人員參與節日活動，擴大武漢國際化影響力。

她希望，武漢國際渡江節能成為一個真正意義上的國際化盛大節日。

（本刊綜合報道）

● The Cheering Squad of “Zhiyinhao”啦啦隊在知音號上為渡江選手們加油

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