The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
The Shanghai Open Rowing Championships compete for Suzhou Creek. Photo of this article: Photo by The Paper's reporter Zhao Yun
"Would love to participate in this event. Suzhou Creek is the mother river of Shanghai, the scenery on both sides is very beautiful, (participating in the competition) this process will be very enjoyable, I was going to compare, because of some work process arrangements, did not participate ..."
On the banks of the Suzhou River on the 23rd, the magnificent picture of rowing boats competing for the current was witnessed, and at the scene of the competition, the surging news reporter met Zhang Ling, the champion of the women's four-person double sculls rowing at the Tokyo Olympic Games and also the athlete representative of this event.
As an Olympic champion in Shanghai, although Zhang Ling did not participate in the 2021 Haitai Real Estate Shanghai Rowing Open, her intuitive feelings for the debut of "getting on the boat" were quite wonderful - such a city brand event is extremely valuable for promoting rowing sports, and she must have the opportunity to truly experience "getting on the boat" in the future.
Zhang Ling. Image source: Zhang Ling Weibo
A carnival of the city
"We used to be basically racing straights, and Suzhou Creek has a lot of curves and it's very challenging." As a Tokyo Olympic champion, Zhang Ling has his own judgment, the waterways here are winding, and there are many bridge holes, which requires an adaptation process for athletes.
But Zhang Ling also mentioned that the more challenging the waterway, the stronger the ornamentation – in fact, in addition to the difficulty coefficient, from the perspective of the audience on both sides of the strait, the 50-meter-wide waters of the Suzhou Creek can also capture the details of the competition at close range.
Citizens watching the race on the banks of the Suzhou River.
At present, domestic urban water rowing events such as "getting on the boat" are also very rare, but Zhang Ling, who has experienced hundreds of battles, has participated in similar competitions, "In 2019, I went to the United Kingdom to participate in the Henry Cup, a very famous event, and our 'boating' is very similar, the distance is slightly shorter, almost more than 2 kilometers." ”
Compared with the competition itself, Zhang Ling was more impressed by the audience on both sides of the strait at that time, "there were many spectators, both sides of the strait were crowded, the audience was dressed formally, skirts and dresses, men wore suits and ties." Rowing is popular in Europe and the United States and is one of the most popular sports..."
Athletes in competitions.
As Zhang Ling describes, rowing as a sport with a long history is popular in many sports powers and famous cities, and every important competition is like a festival and a carnival in the local area, and the traditional events built around the city are even more timeless.
Take the Henry Cup, for example, which originated in 1839 and has a history of more than 180 years; the Charles River Rowing Competition in Boston, which is also nearly 60 years old... These events are world-renowned and have long been the city's calling card everywhere.
At present, Zhang Ling also envisions that "getting on the boat" will one day play the same role, "I hope that 'getting on the boat' can develop like that." ”
"Getting on the boat" gave the sport a chance
However, compared with Western countries, rowing is still relatively niche in China, and the surging news reporter also interviewed some citizens who were enthusiastic about the competition, and many people actually did not know much about rowing.
In this regard, Zhang Ling frankly said that rowing in China still needs to be further promoted, "There are still too few people who understand this sport in China, but we can just promote the competition when we hold a 'boating' competition, so that more people can see the competition, understand the sport, and then participate." ”
The surging news reporter also asked Zhang Ling what the threshold for rowing is, and she laughed and said, "As long as you can swim."
"Usually we learn to swim before we go into the water (rowing), and that's how we all come."
As for the opportunity to learn rowing, Zhang Ling told the surging news reporter: "There are already many professional rowing clubs in China. In addition, many schools are also engaged in rowing. Taking a step back, there are rowing machines in every gym, which is the most convenient way to get started with rowing. ”
During the whole exchange process, Zhang Ling talked about it, you can understand her happiness in the "boat", although this event has only been held for the first time, but from the scale of the race, the quality of the race and the enthusiasm of the Shanghai citizens, the "boat" has made a good start.
On the banks of the Suzhou River, Shanghai's mother river, we are confident of looking forward to the future that Zhang Ling is looking forward to – this is a strong support for the brand events of the whole city of Shanghai, and it will also be an opportunity for rowing to move from niche to public in Shanghai and China.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Liu Wei