by sportswriter Yue Wenwan
WUHAN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- On the eve of the 51st Wuhan Yangtze River Crossing Event in central China's Hubei Province, 63-year-old Huang Ying found herself too excited to sleep.
The veteran swimmer has lost count of how many times she has crossed the Yangtze River over the decades in the provincial capital, but the annual event still feels special.
"It is like the Spring Festival for swimmers," Huang said. "I swim in the Yangtze regularly, but crossing it together with thousands of people who share the same passion is a completely different feeling."
Nearly 2,000 swimmers from around the world took part in this year's event on Thursday, continuing a tradition unique to Wuhan, where generations of residents have embraced the Yangtze as both a sporting venue and part of everyday life.
For many participants, however, the event is about more than sport. As regular swimmers, they have witnessed firsthand how the Yangtze has transformed over the past decade, from cleaner water and returning wildlife to greener industries and renewed public life along its banks.
Shu Zhaofeng, 57, has been swimming since childhood. "I grew up swimming in the Han River. Back then, the water was so clear you could drink it directly," he recalled. "We could even catch fish and shrimp with our towels."
As industries expanded along the riverbanks in the 1990s and 2000s, the water gradually turned murky.
"Small chemical plants and paper mills discharged wastewater into the river," Shu said. "Sometimes after swimming, my skin even felt uncomfortable."
For several years, he stopped swimming in the river and switched to indoor pools.
That changed over the past decade, when China strengthened protection of the Yangtze in 2016, launching stricter environmental measures across the river basin.
Since 2021, Hubei has upgraded or relocated 478 chemical enterprises along the Yangtze and maintained Class II water quality for seven consecutive years.
"The water is much cleaner now," Shu said. "More importantly, more people are willing to swim in the river."
He now frequently organizes swimming activities and has seen his own swimming community grow. What began as a chat group of just over 10 people has expanded to nearly 180 members. "Whenever we organize a swim, dozens of people sign up almost immediately," he said.
For Qi Yan, a river crossing participant from Yichang City, more than 600 kilometers upstream of Wuhan, the biggest change has been what she sees while swimming.
Qi, 58, has volunteered to patrol the riverbank, remove litter after every swim and remind visitors to stay away from dangerous waters for more than a decade. "But in recent years, there has been less and less trash," she said. "Sometimes I can hardly find any to collect. "
Qi said the cleaner water reflects changes far beyond what swimmers can see on the surface.
The changes extend beyond the river itself. In Yichang, authorities have relocated, closed or upgraded 134 riverside chemical enterprises over the past eight years, while companies including Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group have shut wastewater outlets, removed riverside facilities and upgraded production to reduce pollution entering the Yangtze.
The ecological improvements have become increasingly visible to swimmers like Qi. Since the 10-year fishing ban took effect in 2021, Hubei has prohibited commercial fishing along more than 1,900 kilometers of the Yangtze and Han rivers and across 83 aquatic nature reserves, allowing fish populations and other wildlife to recover.
"I've even seen finless porpoises leap out of the water while swimming," Qi noted.
The Yangtze finless porpoise, once on the brink of extinction, has become a symbol of the river's recovery. Data released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment shows that the population of the Yangtze finless porpoises reached 1,426 in 2025.
For organizers, the annual crossing has also become a witness to the river's transformation.
Hong Xuyan, deputy director of the Wuhan Sports Bureau, has helped organize the Wuhan Yangtze River Crossing since 1992. "We no longer have to bother to clear floating garbage from the river before the event," she said. "And we can proudly invite swimmers from around the world to our mother river and enjoy swimming together." ■
