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(wàn)里長(zhǎng)江橫渡，極目楚天舒”，武漢橫渡長(zhǎng)江活動(dòng)歷史悠久，久負(fù)盛名，見(jiàn)證武漢61年巨變，武漢國(guó)際渡江節(jié)成為當(dāng)?shù)馗挥刑厣某鞘形幕?/p>

1956年，毛澤東在武漢首次暢游，游后乘興寫(xiě)個(gè)著名的《水調(diào)歌頭?游泳》。往后十年間，他在武漢暢游長(zhǎng)江十余次。也是在1956年，武漢舉辦新中國(guó)成立后的第一屆橫渡長(zhǎng)江競(jìng)賽。從此，橫渡長(zhǎng)江成為武漢的標(biāo)志。

于是，2016年因長(zhǎng)江防汛任務(wù)重而取消的武漢國(guó)際渡江節(jié)，今年7月16日重磅歸來(lái)，向世界展示武漢和長(zhǎng)江的魅力。

本屆渡江節(jié)分為專業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員的搶渡賽和群眾方陣橫渡兩個(gè)部分。搶渡賽吸引德國(guó)、美國(guó)、瑞典等國(guó)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(jié)冠軍西蒙·萬(wàn)那相隔4秒，相繼登岸。女子組的前三名均為武漢選手。

報(bào)告文學(xué)作家黎笙作為學(xué)生方陣的一員，1966年時(shí)，曾與毛澤東一起游泳橫渡長(zhǎng)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(rèn)為，武漢渡江傳統(tǒng)很早就在國(guó)際上有過(guò)“表達(dá)”。1961年，英國(guó)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(guó)前，他還獲贈(zèng)毛澤東親筆書(shū)寫(xiě)的詞《水調(diào)歌頭·游泳》。

“橫渡長(zhǎng)江，以前只是一種全民體育鍛煉，演變?yōu)槊磕暌欢鹊墓?jié)日，成為一項(xiàng)群眾性的宣示活動(dòng)，對(duì)這座城市形象的宣示。”黎笙說(shuō)，武漢是一座國(guó)際大都市，在新的歷史時(shí)期，武漢長(zhǎng)江主軸的規(guī)劃和建設(shè)，賦予長(zhǎng)江橫渡活動(dòng)新的內(nèi)涵：建設(shè)大武漢，我們要團(tuán)結(jié)一心，眾志成城。

武漢國(guó)際渡江節(jié)今后要擴(kuò)大其品牌影響力，需將渡江活動(dòng)與新的歷史高度結(jié)合起來(lái)：在經(jīng)濟(jì)上，要建設(shè)一座長(zhǎng)江新城；在文化上，要展示我們這座超級(jí)大城砥礪前行、不畏困難的精神風(fēng)貌。

武漢作家胡榴明提議，國(guó)際渡江節(jié)應(yīng)歡迎更多世界各國(guó)選手報(bào)名參加，如國(guó)際馬拉松和自行車賽那樣。啟動(dòng)各種傳播媒介和傳播方式，將武漢國(guó)際渡江節(jié)的新聞向全中國(guó)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(yǔ)言要中英雙語(yǔ)。邀請(qǐng)?jiān)谖錆h的國(guó)外企事業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)相關(guān)人員參與節(jié)日活動(dòng)，擴(kuò)大武漢國(guó)際化影響力。

她希望，武漢國(guó)際渡江節(jié)能成為一個(gè)真正意義上的國(guó)際化盛大節(jié)日。

（本刊綜合報(bào)道）

● The Cheering Squad of “Zhiyinhao”啦啦隊(duì)在知音號(hào)上為渡江選手們加油

《特別關(guān)注（英文）》擬申領(lǐng)新聞?dòng)浾咦C人員名單公示

根據(jù)中央網(wǎng)信辦和國(guó)家新聞出版廣電總局的工作安排，經(jīng)《特別關(guān)注（英文）》研究決定，近期擬為劉冬莉、寧芳、許曠共3位采編人員申領(lǐng)新聞?dòng)浾咦C，現(xiàn)于本刊進(jìn)行公示。

舉報(bào)電話：027-88568054

外國(guó)選手橫擊長(zhǎng)江奪冠

文| 許曠