Debut of Marathon Swimming in Wuhan

By Xu Ping, Ma Mingyu

Translation by Liu Yi

Debut of Marathon Swimming in Wuhan

By Xu Ping, Ma Mingyu

Translation by Liu Yi

On the afternoon of November 5th, the First Wuhan Marathon Swimming was successfully held in the waters of Guozheng Lake in Wuhan’s East Lake. As Italian swimmer Matteo Furlan along with 75 Chinese and foreign professional competitors took the lead to jump in the water, Wuhan officially entered the new era of “four mega-sport events”: the Wuhan Marathon (foot-races), the International Horse Racing Festival, the World Fly-in Expo, and the Wuhan Marathon Swimming.

The Wuhan Marathon Swimming includes two parts: the 10km long-distance swim for professional male and female swimmers and the health swim for amateurs. The first one attracted a total of 76 Chinese and foreign participants.In the professional men’s competition, Matteo Furlan, swimmer from the Italian national team,went ashore first, with a time of 1 hour 40 minutes 32 seconds. He was a gold winner in the 10km marathon in the 2013 World University Games(Universiade) and placed second in the 25km in the 2017 World Open Water Championships in Budapest.

The woman’s competition drew almost all the top domestic players. Champion Xin Xin won first place at the 10km marathon swim in the Tianjin National Games just months before. She won gold again this time in Wuhan in 1 hour 46 minutes and 28 seconds. Xin Xin has been the champion of the women’s 10km swim for nearly two years in China.Last year, under the age of 20, she won fourth place in the Rio Olympics 10km, which was the best performance for Chinese athletes in the event in Olympic Games.

11月5日下午，武漢市首屆水上馬拉松賽在東湖郭鄭湖水域成功舉行。隨著意大利選手馬泰奧·富蘭和75名中外專業選手率先入水，江城正式進入漢馬、賽馬、天馬（世界飛行者大會）、水馬等“四馬奔騰”的體育運動新時代。

本屆“水馬”分10公里男女專業競技游和千人健康游兩大板塊。競技游共吸引76名中外選手參加。男子專業競技游中，意大利國家隊選手馬泰奧·富蘭第一個上岸，成績為1小時40分32秒。他曾奪得2013年世界大學生運動會男子10公里游泳冠軍和2017年布達佩斯世錦賽男子25公里亞軍。

女子該項目幾乎包含所有國內頂尖選手。冠軍辛鑫剛在天津全運會10公里馬拉松游泳折桂。奔著冠軍來的她最終如愿以償，以1小時46分28秒奪冠。辛鑫近兩年一直是女子10公里的頭名，去年，未滿20歲的她還獲得里約奧運會10公里第四，創造中國選手在該項目的奧運會最好成績。

千人健康游中，愛好者816名來自武漢、200名來自長沙、合肥、南昌等地，還有14名友好人士來自巴西、澳大利亞等13個國家。選手們分成十個方隊，在溫暖的秋陽下游完1.2公里，感受東湖別樣的魅力。

Swimmers struggled forward in the charms of the East Lake 山水之間，游泳健兒劈波向前

“今天一路都被中國選手緊緊盯住，這個冠軍拿得太不容易?！辟惡?，馬泰奧·富蘭直呼奪冠不易?！斑@里風景很美，賽前我以為或許有仰頭欣賞一下美景的時間，但游起來要緊盯對手，這個愿望也落空了?！彼嬖V記者，比賽中至少有5名中國選手始終處于第一梯隊，這讓他看到了中國選手的實力。

Among thousands of amateurs in the health swim, 816 were from Wuhan; 200 were from Changsha, Hefei, Nanchang; and 14 were from 13 foreign countries, including Brazil and Australia.The players were divided into ten teams, swimming 1.2km in the East Lake in the warm autumn sunshine.

“Today, we were chased closely by Chinese players all the way, so it was not easy to win, ” said Matteo Furlan, impressed by the fierce competition. “The scenery here is very beautiful. Before the game,I thought I might have the time to enjoy the view while swimming; however, my opponents were so strong that I always had to keep an eye on them,and this became just a dream.” He told reporters that at least five Chinese competitors in the competition were always in the first league, and he had seen the strength of Chinese swimmers.

Tianjin contestant An Jiabao ranked second in the competition with only one second behind Furlan, but he was satisfied with his performance.“Competing with such high level players as Matteo Furlan will surely help me improve in the future.”

From the International Universities Rowing Race, the Wuhan Marathon (foot-races, with the East Lake Greenway being part of its course), the College Dragon Boat Race, the C4 Summit bicycle race to the Wuhan Marathon Swimming, the East Lake is no longer merely a good place for leisure and entertainment for Wuhan citizens, but is becoming a showcase for athletes at home and abroad. Guozheng Lake is expected to become the arena for the sailing competition of the Seventh Military World Games two years from now, and the East Lake Greenway will also be the stage for the marathon section then. ?（Photos by Shi Gong）

Flyboard players performing acrobatics alongside swimmers 水上飛行器運動員表演

天津選手安家葆以1秒之差屈居男子亞軍。他對自己的成績較為滿意，“能與馬泰奧·富蘭這樣高水平的選手較量，對我成績的提升會有很大幫助。”

從國際名校賽艇挑戰賽、武漢旱地馬拉松、大學生龍舟賽、C4峰會自行車賽到水上馬拉松，東湖已不單是武漢市民休閑娛樂的好去處，她正在成為國內外運動健兒的秀場。郭鄭湖這片水域有望成為兩年后第七屆世界軍人運動會帆船比賽的賽場，而東湖綠道屆時也將成為軍運會馬拉松比賽的賽段。?

Rescuers were waiting in boats for the need of swimmers救援人員分布泳道兩側，為運動員提供安全保障

（攝影/時龔）

水上馬拉松競泳東湖

文/徐平 馬明玉 譯/劉祎

Foreign swimmers took a group picture before the marathon swimming began 外國選手下水前合影留念