Diversity and Inclusion 22 Oct 2012
A Stroke of Pluck
Determined and focused, powerful and beautiful – these are the athletes at China's Yunzhinan Swimming Club.
Youths with disabilities such as Sun Hongsheng (in yellow cap) train hard at the Yunzhinan Swimming Club in Kunming, China, hoping to make it to the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
The swimmers do not see themselves as disabled athletes. They are simply athletes.
What motivates swimmers like 17-year-old Hongsheng? They want a better future, and they want to build that future themselves. Depending on handouts is not for them.
Some don’t even particularly like swimming, but see it as the means to that better future.
So they train twice a day, no matter how tired they are, from 9am to noon and again from 2pm to 5pm.
Determined and focused, powerful and beautiful – these are the athletes at Yunzhinan.
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About Hongsheng
Sun Hongsheng is a Chinese swimmer who lost his arms after an accident with a power line. Despite that, he went on to train at the Yunzhinan Swimming Club in Kunming, China, in hopes of competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
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