news

china news network, jilin, september 22 (reporter shi hongyu) on the 22nd, 200 swimming enthusiasts came to the bank of the songhua river. after warming up, they jumped into the river in batches, challenging themselves to cross the nearly 1,000-meter river.

on the same day, the 2024 jilin songhua river crossing event kicked off in jilin city.

jilin city is known as the "river city of the north". the songhua river winds through the city. the upstream fengman hydropower station intercepts the river water to generate electricity. the resulting temperature difference makes the river section in the urban area never freeze all year round, so swimming enthusiasts can swim freely in all seasons.

200 swimming enthusiasts are crossing the songhua river. photo by cangyan

according to the organizer of the event, this is one of the series of activities of the 2024 jilin city community games, the first national fitness competition, and it is also the first time that a mass river crossing event has been held in the area.

the temperature on that day was around 10 degrees celsius, and the athletes took off their outer clothes early to adapt to the temperature. "we start the winter swimming training period at the end of september every year, and this event is a training session for us winter swimmers." li zhiguo, who has been swimming for nearly 20 years, said that his swimming team has new members every year, and the new members are getting younger and younger.

as the whistle sounded, the contestants jumped into the water one after another. after entering the water, they used backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke and other techniques to quickly swim to the other side. for a moment, the orange life-saving balls on their waists formed a "ribbon" on the river surface, connecting the starting point and the end point, creating a spectacular scene.

xu ke, director of the jilin city water sports center, said that the vast surface of the songhua river has created many folk swimming experts. after successfully crossing the river, the athletes will not only receive a completion medal, but also a sports lottery ticket.

in the end, it took more than 40 minutes for all the contestants to complete the crossing challenge.

it is understood that relying on the unique advantages of water resources, jilin city has successively held dragon boat racing, rowing, fishing and other events this year. officials said that they will continue to explore the deep integration of water sports and the tourism industry to create a water sports tourism destination that integrates sports, tourism and leisure. (end)