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，武汉市首届水上马拉松赛在东湖郭郑湖水域成功举行。随着意大利选手马泰奥·富兰和75名中外专业选手率先入水，江城正式进入汉马、赛马、天马（世界飞行者大会）、水马等“四马奔腾”的体育运动新时代。

本届“水马”分10公里男女专业竞技游和千人健康游两大板块。竞技游共吸引76名中外选手参加。男子专业竞技游中，意大利国家队选手马泰奥·富兰第一个上岸，成绩为1小时40分32秒。他曾夺得2013年世界大学生运动会男子10公里游泳冠军和2017年布达佩斯世锦赛男子25公里亚军。

女子该项目几乎包含所有国内顶尖选手。冠军辛鑫刚在天津全运会10公里马拉松游泳折桂。奔着冠军来的她最终如愿以偿，以1小时46分28秒夺冠。辛鑫近两年一直是女子10公里的头名，去年，未满20岁的她还获得里约奥运会10公里第四，创造中国选手在该项目的奥运会最好成绩。

千人健康游中，爱好者816名来自武汉、200名来自长沙、合肥、南昌等地，还有14名友好人士来自巴西、澳大利亚等13个国家。选手们分成十个方队，在温暖的秋阳下游完1.2公里，感受东湖别样的魅力。

Swimmers struggled forward in the charms of the East Lake 山水之间，游泳健儿劈波向前

“今天一路都被中国选手紧紧盯住，这个冠军拿得太不容易。”赛后，马泰奥·富兰直呼夺冠不易。“这里风景很美，赛前我以为或许有仰头欣赏一下美景的时间，但游起来要紧盯对手，这个愿望也落空了。”他告诉记者，比赛中至少有5名中国选手始终处于第一梯队，这让他看到了中国选手的实力。……