Early upon our return to China the administration put out the word about some cool stuff that only happens in the first semester, a number of which were things we have not yet had a chance to experience. One of these events was an international outdoor swimming competition held in OCTOBER. It sounded like a lot of fun while we were sweating it up at Pro-D in August and Paul decided to sign himself up!
The morning of October 22 was chilly but sunny. We piled into a transport and were driven to the start of the “parade” route. To our surprise there was a VERY official opening ceremony and the entire thing was being televised on 2 stations. To Kristen's chagrin there were tourists and reporters all over the place wanting to snap photos of our group of strange white people all decked out in red and white. In a very odd role reversal Kristen hung back, playing the shy kid, while Paul was holding the flag out in front wearing his '87 Canada Cup jersey smiling and posing with everyone who requested a picture of him. He was even approached by the coach of one of the Chinese swim teams about making some contacts in Canada so their team could do a swim tour….wtf is a swim tour? As the opening ceremonies really got underway there were the usual speeches that no one listened to, dancers who should concentrate their energies on other things, (and should definitely wear costues more appropriate to women of their age and build) as well as cross-dressing pop singers and ballroom dancers. The entire things was capped off with an outrageous amount of fireworks and piles of old people running into the ocean wearing speedos, t-shirts and socks for the polar bear swim. It was an odd day.
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| Paul leading the Canadian contingent. |
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| Ballroom dancers in front, elderly cheerleaders to the left, dancers to the right. |
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| The swimmers marched in wearing their matching gear... they take odd amateur sport quite seriously in China. Cold water swimming falls in that category. |
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| Probably toxic, but it looks pretty. |
The next day, Sunday October 23, dawned, sunny but freezing and windy... like REALLY windy. Paul was scheduled for 3 races and was told to arrive no later than 8am, but once he was there found out he didn’t swim until 11:30. So we sat around looking at the Russians and had them try to convince us to join the “Bering Strait” Swim club, which basically is a group of people who jump in the Bering Strait and seeing how long you can stay in before your body overrides your brain and you jump out. Apparently some members of their team had recently swam from Russia to Alaska and were looking to get another group together for this summer!
The races were held in an outdoor pool that had recently been filled with unheated and unfiltered sea water! The water temperature was less than 4°... yes, ONLY 4 degrees above freezing!
Anyways Paul’s first race was…interesting. He was the last one off the block (he didn't understand the Chinese words for "take your marks") but was first out of the turn. He led his heat until the last few meters when his muscles cramped from the extreme cold -and lack of training- and he was over taken by the guy next to him. He came out of the water in mild shock which we later found out happened to ALL the other Canadian contestants. We went home and had some lunch and a nap. Then Paul went back for two more races! All in all he ended up 5th in freestyle, 6th in the backstroke and 5th in the breaststroke. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t swum competitively for almost 10 years!
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| Speedos and parkas |
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| Just a little chilly! |
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| Some of the older dudes were pretty impressive. |
The day after the races, there was a ceremony that was attended by the athletes, and dignitaries like the vice minister of sport. Paul thought that all the Maple Leaf teachers who swam were going, but he found out (at the event) that it was just him, some of the administrators and a few of the Chinese teachers. The evening was a true Chinese experience. Pop singers, children performing Kung-fu, hostesses wearing full princess gowns and a full Chinese buffet. It was a wierd and wonderful experience. We got to enjoy some delicious Chinese beer brewed in Hong Kong, and some baiju (sorghum liquor) that was made in Jinshitan. We eventually stumbled home, and went to sleep, sore from the swimming and a little tipsy from the night out.
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| Take a look at that glittering # 7 on his waif-like body |
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