China’s seniors have warmed up to winter swimming, but in some cases these ‘polar bears’ are breaking the law
　　
　　Wu Shoutian, a 59-year-old Beijing resident, swam every day in 2004. In the winter of 2005, he stopped for two weeks when his 88-year-old mother was sick and needed care.
　　Wu, retired from an auto supply company in Beijing, has insisted on swimming throughout winter for the past seven years, slipping into holes cut in the ice of lakes and rivers regardless of wind and snow. He said he feels uncomfortable if he misses a day, and has even taken cold-water showers at home when he couldn’t get out for a swim.
　　Wu is typical of China’s winter swimmers: fervently devoted, and a firm believer in the health benefits of jumping into frigid water.
　　Early on the morning of January 7, after finding someone to take care of his mother, he met 50 of his fellow polar bear swimmers at their regular riverside swimming hole. Together they traveled to the suburban Yanqing County to attend the 28th annual Beijing Winter Swimming Performance Contest.
　　Wu and his friends are members of the Luodaozhuang Winter Swimming Team, one of the 30 groups that attended the recent event. Team leader Dong Fuqing said his is the largest winter swimming group in Beijing, with 150 registered members, including more than 20 female swimmers. About 80 percent of the members are retirees.
　　Though nearly 60 years old, Wu is a relative youngster on his team. Most members are at least 60 and have been swimming in winter for more than 20 years.
　　
　　A fountain of youth?
　　
　　Li Lin, Director of the Beijing Winter Swimmer Association, said there are more than 300,000 winter swimming fans in China, including the 3,200 registered swimmers in his association. Some winter swimming fans say that about 10,000 people swim every winter in Beijing, and most of them are older people such as Luodaozhuang’s members. The oldest known Beijing winter swimmer is 89 years old.
　　
　　However, not all are retirees. Jin Gang, another leader of the Luodaozhuang swimming team, is 39 years old and has been swimming in winter for nearly three decades. He counts himself among the minority of people who jumped in when the first Beijing Winter Swimming Performance Contest was held in 1979.
　　A major reason why so many older people in northern China are taking part in winter swimming is they believe it is good for their health. Zhao Ruiying, Vice Chairman of the Beijing Winter Swimmer Association, is almost 80 years old, but still in excellent health. Once at a party he declared that he aimed to live to 120 years. Now, many other winter swimmers are saying the same thing.
　　
　　Seven years ago, when Wu Shoutian began swimming in winter, he had high blood pressure. He says that winter swimming, in combination with the medicine he takes, has helped to lower his blood pressure levels. Now, he vows to keep on swimming as long as he can.
　　According to Wang Decheng, a spokesman for the Beijing Winter Swimmer Association, many medical experts say that moderate winter swimming is beneficial to cardiovascular functions. But it’s not “the more, the better.” People should swim according to their health conditions, Wang added.
　　Club member Wu said swimming in winter isn’t only about improving health. It’s also a social activity. Sometimes, the group may swim only for a little while. If the weather is good, they’ll relax on the riverbank and chat while basking in the sunshine. “What’s meaningful to us is that we can talk to each other,” he said.
　　
　　Renegade swimmers
　　
　　Wu said the 28th Beijing Winter Swimming Performance Contest held in Yanqing is an important festival to his team. There are only two or three times a year his group can legally swim in public water areas. Ordinarily, they are supposed to negotiate with supervisory departments to be able to swim in certain locations.
　　Wang said the biggest problem for winter swimmers in China is a shortage of water areas. China has no laws or regulations to standardize winter swimming, and in some areas, local policies restrict swimming in public bodies of water out of consideration for the environment. Also, there are sometimes concerns for decency with respect to swimmers changing clothes in public areas. So, among the ranks of diehard winter swimmers there are the “guerrillas.”
　　In Beijing, in order to protect public waterways, the Beijing Winter Swimming Association prohibits swimmers from using soap while washing after a swim so that the water isn’t contaminated. Beijing participants call it “environmental protection swimming.”
　　Zhang Jian, Director of the Outdoor Sports Center of Beijing Sports University, is in charge of promoting outdoor water sports in the capital. According to Zhang, who once swam across the English Channel, men’s and women’s 10-km open water swimming will be added to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as a formal event. This will play a decisive role in promoting winter swimming.
　　Cao Qingzhu, an official in charge of swimming at China’s General Administration of Physical Culture, said that swimming in open water is popular in many parts of the world. The addition of a swimming contest in a public water area to the Olympic Games schedule is absolutely a good thing for promoting the sport in China, he added.
　　News of the new Olympic event has spread like hot gossip among winter swimming lovers. Wang said he is optimistic that winter swimming will soon become legal and winter swimmers will no longer face the threat of run-ins with the law.
　　Currently, there are other problems for the group. Dong Fuqing said that a lack of money is one issue. All activities held by the Luodaozhuang team depend on annual fees of 15 yuan contributed by each member, and many members contribute more. But the sum of money falls short of the needs for financing daily activities, not to mention covering entrance fees for large contests. The team has to seek financial support via sponsorship, which can be challenging to secure.
　　If winter swimming is legalized, this is expected to help alleviate the money problem. At least, Dong said, when the team seeks support, it won’t have to take pains to explain the legality of its activities.

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