Decode the Swim Marathon: A game for the brave, where you can't stand but can't go forward...

In the women's 10 km open water swim at the Tokyo Olympics, China's Xin Xin finished eighth.

Open water swimming is known as the "brave man's game", which is closer to nature and more challenging than indoor swimming. The women's 10 km "marathon swimming" undoubtedly tests the athletes' physical strength and will.

For most viewers, swimming marathon is a familiar and unfamiliar term. This event, which only appeared in the 21st century, like the "originator" marathon of the Olympic Games, is a challenge to the limits of human endurance, just one on land and one in water.

In 2000, the swimming marathon first appeared at the FINA World Championships in Open Water Swimming, a separate organization of the Fina. Just a year later, the event appeared at the Fina Fina World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was the first time that marathon swimming appeared in the Olympic family.

According to FINA regulations, the track of the swimming marathon must be set in freshwater or brackish waters with low currents or less currents, and the swimming water depth of the track is at least 1.4 meters. All marathon swimming events are freestyle events with a distance of 10 kilometers.

Since the shallowest part of the track may only be 1.4 meters according to the regulations, there may be an embarrassing scene of "walking" faster than "swimming". Thus, the rules stipulate that during the competition, players can stand underwater, but they cannot walk or jump in the water. If the rules of the game are violated, it is possible to be punished by the referee with a "red card".

Author: Guo Chaohao

Editor: Hao Mengyi

Image source: Visual China