China and swimming. Two words which when used in the same sentence, have raised questions about honesty and mystery; integrity and surprise. This story is not intended to raise political views or even make statements about “right” or “wrong”…this is just a story about a man and his passion for swimming.
Mao Zedong (or also Tse-tung) was the Chairman of the Communist Party of China for over 3 decades (1945-1976). He was a swimmer. Chairman Mao was the founding father of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Mao was a swimmer. He was born the son of a farmer, and at a very early age he left home to further his education and he eventually ended up in Beijing where he worked as a part-time librarian, and he was a swimmer.
Mao Zedong was, and still is a very controversial figure in China. Beijing is full of reminders of his legacy…from posters to portraits-sculptures to statues, we are constantly reminded of “the Chairman” all throughout Beijing and the rest of China. Mao was, however, a personality many people do not know…he was a swimmer.
Fast Forward 1994. World Swimming Championships in Rome, Italy. China completely dominated in the women’s events by winning 12 Gold Medals, 6 Silver and 1 Bronze. Even though they had no medals on the men’s side (except in diving), they still won the overall medal count when compared to the United States with both men and women combined.
Fast Forward 2008 Olympics and 2011 World Championships. After being forever “overlooked” by many Olympic and International organizing committees, China has recently put on some elaborate and super-organized events for our aquatic sports. Furthermore, the chinese are back–both men and women. Winning Olympic Medals, setting World Records and training in “western” facilities both in Australia and the United States.
Mao was the founder of everything Communist known to China, but we must ask the question, “was he also the first true ‘swimming personality’ of China?”
In 1949, after the creation of the Communist China which we all know today, Mao quickly built his personal paradise by ordering the construction of many buildings next to the present day “Forbidden City”…the most important inclusion being an indoor swimming pool! The swimming pool is said to have been approximately 30 meters long and 6 lanes in width. Mao loved swimming. He would encourage his fellow officials to swim alongside Mao because it promoted health and confidence. Mao would spend much of his time poolside, contemplating world politics and writing poetry.
One of the more incredible swimming stories during Mao’s lifetime came in August 1953 during a “summit-discussion” between Chinese and Soviet leaders. The two key players…China’s Chairman Mao Zedong and Nikita Khrushchev of the USSR. On August 3rd, 1953, Nikita might have taken an unplanned step towards “losing” credibility and power to Mao when Nikita was given a pair of green swimming trunks and asked to join Chairman Mao in the Chinese rulers outdoor swimming pool. Mr. Khrushchev was not at all a good swimmer. Historians describe an embarrassing, yet comical scene where the Chinese ruler was swimming up and down the pool, speaking in fast Chinese while translators scurried frantically around the pool…meanwhile, Mr. Khrushchev stayed in the shallow end until Chairman Mao “invited” him to the deep end! What followed is not always agreed upon, but some kind of “flotation device” was given to the Soviet leader and their discussions continued. Henry Kissinger is known to have said the floatation device was WATER WINGS…what a sight it must have been! Two oversized world leaders, splashing around talking about who to conquer, or even worse!
Another very interesting and historic swimming episode of Mr. Zedong occurred in 1966 when he made a surprise appearance at the Yangtze river crossing which he had already performed several years prior (see video). There was chaos and enthusiasm, and weeks later the river swim became a media event. He was the 1960’s version of the present day super chinese swimmer Sun Yang.
You can call him what you want. Mao may be many things to many people in both a political and humanitarian definition. Mao was, however, a swimmer. And it seems a pretty good one. Chinese food for thought….
This poem was written by Chairman Mao — it is entitled: SWIMMING
I have just drunk the waters of Changsha
And come to eat the fish of Wuchang.
Now I am swimming across the great Yangtze,
Looking afar to the open sky of Chu.
Let the wind blow and waves beat,
Better far than idly strolling in a courtyard.
Today I am at ease.
“It was by a stream that the Master said–
‘Thus do things flow away!’ “
Sails move with the wind.
Tortoise and Snake are still.
Great plans are afoot:
A bridge will fly to span the north and south,
Turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare;
Walls of stone will stand upstream to the west
To hold back Wushan’s clouds and rain
Till a smooth lake rises in the narrow gorges.
The mountain goddess if she is still there
Will marvel at a world so changed.
Chris Morgan is a swimming coach in search of the most creative workouts. Follow him on Twitter @swim4chris
Mao was worse than Hitler. Most sites would not discuss the virtues of, for example, the Nazi love of oral care and tooth brushing.
Where’s BOBO to tell us how awesome Mao was?
Chairman Mao , the great leader of China and rest of the world. The father/founder of china. He fought for liberation,justice,equality. He was a brave soldier/commander of soil. He fought for liberation and communist ideology. He was travelling and fight long distance above one thousands miles,it called ‘long march’. He established first socialist country in asia and first government of workers and downtrodden people.I tribute to him.
…it’s important to remember the past, no matter how ugly it may be. Life is ugly at times, and inspiring at others. We will cover all topics…. Like I said before, if you have an interesting subject, please share here as a guest contributor.
OK OK OK, after reading the article again, I’s about to get real.
I don’t care who you guys wanna write about, the subject of an article is not going to offend me. I don’t agree with those commenters above saying this type of thing should never be brought up, I’m all for tackling Mao’s swimming background – but it just wasn’t executed well enough here. For such a potentially explosive topic, the piece reads too much like a grade-school Wikipedia summary. Mao did this and then Mao did that and then swimming!
A bit more specifically – the closing sentences of your last three paragraphs are pretty terrifying:
-“Two oversized world leaders, splashing around talking about who to… Read more »
Everything about this man is repulsive! Surely we can find a more positive influence who has a passion for swimming to write about!
I think what Northernire and Freedom Rings are trying to get across is that, try as you might, you can’t separate the politics from the story with such a figure as Mao. And they (and I) would rather not have swimming associated with such a figure. For example, just change one word from the first paragraph – China to Germany – and then write a piece about what a great champion of the sport of swimming that Hitler was ( I hope he wasn’t!). I don’t think anyone would be able to separate out the “(much) lesser things he did in his life” (WTF) that another poster contributed.
Mark hits it on the head – Truth is your humanizing a monster that was responsible for over 50 million deaths of his own people. 50 Million (Maybe as many as 80) – try to grasp that. You’re free to write whatever you want, but it’s such a bad decision to write about such a murderer. Would Mel feel that it was a good idea to write such a piece on Hitler or Stalin or Jeffrey Dahmer if they liked to swim?
Just a really bad, classless unnecessary decision. You’re just asking for the site to be politicized. Why?
It’s a very interesting article about things we didn’t know about ! thanks again Mel !