Girl swims 3km with bound limbs
2007-10-04 14:25
Beijing - A 10-year-old Chinese girl went on a three-hour river swim with her limbs bound, state media reported, the latest endurance feat to raise questions of child abuse.
Huang Li, from Hunan province, swam in a tributary of the
Yangtze River for three kilometres, hoping to eventually
fulfil her goal of making it into the Guinness Book of World
Records, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Next time, she will swim further and I'll follow her in a
boat to ensure safety," the report quoted Huang's father, who
called his daughter a swimming prodigy, as saying.
Huang's feat followed that of eight-year-old Zhang Huimin,
who ran 3 560km from the southern province of
Hainan to Beijing, covering the equivalent of one-and-a-half
marathons a day while her father followed on a motorised
bicycle.
Zhang's father was forced to deny accusations of abuse
levelled by domestic media and some experts, who said the
exercise regime would damage the girl's body and affect her
growth.
Huang's swim also raised eyebrows.
"It's dangerous to swim with bound limbs. What if she had
muscle cramps and drowned?" the report quoted a university
student surnamed Gao as saying.
China is increasingly obsessed with athleticism and
record-breaking as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing next August. Expectations are running high among the
public that it will top the Games' medals table.