Exploits of the ice man

On Jan 14, 1979, Beijing held its first-ever winter swimming performance to the warm applause of more than 3,000 spectators. The north bank of Bayi Lake bustled as the 74 winter swimmers in the event prepared. They took off their thin coats and drank water. At 1 pm the performance started and the athletes took to the five swimming lanes. Some swam freestyle, some breaststroke and others butterfly. Their ability to endure the cold, icy water that day won them many admirers.

At the 10th Winter Swimming Performance Competition in 1988, tens of thousands of spectators, a record turnout, cheered on the shore and 1,505 winter swimmers who chanted "exercise and revitalize China" managed to swim at least 100 meters. At the time schools in Beijing were offering elective courses and lectures on winter swimming. Even at the Longtan Spring Festival Temple Fair, an event popular with Beijingers, a winter swimming pool was set up.

Entering the 21st century, Beijing's bid for the Summer Olympics inspired Beijing's winter swimmers to showcase their tenacity. From November 2000 to March 2001 the athlete Zhang Jian insisted on winter swimming training in the ice water of the swimming pool at Tsinghua University, Jinhai Lake and Longqingxia Reservoir to increase his resistance to the cold. At 1:26 am on July 30, 2001, the day the country celebrated its success in being awarded the 2008 Olympics, Zhang became the first Chinese to cross the Channel between England and France after powering his way through the waves for nearly 12 hours.

The twin destinies of winter swimming and the Olympics were renewed when Beijing bid for the Winter Olympics, being awarded them in 2015. Meng Zhaocheng, former chairman of the Beijing Winter Swimming Club, called for winter swimming to be promoted as part of the Games, either in competition or as part of the opening ceremony.

In Yuyuantan Park a woman takes out a speaker and invites a partner to dance with her after their daily swim. With the dance over, they pose for photographs, and another man picks up an electric guitar and begins to play My Motherland and Me.

For many of the swimmers at such events, the cold is the last thing on their mind; the joy of old memories is sufficient to warm the day.