Photo: VCG

As one of China's swimming powerhouses, East China's Zhejiang Province has launched a new provincial city swimming league aimed at bringing more grassroots participants into the pool and strengthening the sport's already rich talent pipeline.

The inaugural Zhejiang City Swimming League, branded as the "Zhe SA" under the Zhejiang Swimming Association, was officially unveiled on Tuesday as the latest addition to Zhejiang's growing portfolio of city-based sports competitions. 

The province has produced a long list of Olympic and world champions in swimming, including women's breaststroker Ye Shiwen, individual medley specialist Wang Shun and backstroker Xu Jiayu.

The new league will adopt a "3+1" format featuring three qualifying meets and one grand final, with the opening stop scheduled for June 13-14 at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center swimming venue in Ningbo. 

Organizers said ticket prices for the opening event will cost only six yuan (80 cents) in an effort to make the competition accessible to the public.

All events will be held as timed finals, with athletes ranked directly by their results. The top eight finishers in each individual event will qualify for the season-ending finals, while those already qualified will not be allowed to compete in later qualifying rounds.

To preserve the competition's amateur identity, organizers have introduced strict eligibility rules. Current nationally registered swimmers, athletes who have trained with professional teams and retired swimmers within three years of leaving elite competition will not be allowed to participate.

Olympic backstroke champion Xu said the event could help inspire more people to take part in swimming while also expanding the talent pool for the future.

"The Zhen SA is a very good initiative for Zhejiang," Xu told reporters. "It can bring together everyone who loves swimming and enjoys the sport into the same pool."

He added that the league could encourage more young swimmers to emerge while also benefiting older generations.

"It can encourage more young people to step forward and give us more talent to discover," Xu said. "Middle-aged and elderly people can also improve their health through swimming."

When asked whether the league might eventually produce the next generation of elite Zhejiang swimmers, Xu said athletes would continue striving to improve themselves.

"We will all do our best," Xu said. "I'm also still trying to break through my own limits and hope to achieve even better performances."

The veteran swimmer also joked that his mother, a former professional swimmer, could join the competition.

"My mother is 64 years old, so she meets the age requirement and could even compete," Xu said. "Maybe she can win a championship."

Swimming enthusiasts applying for the Zhe SA may represent only one city throughout the season, the organizers said. Zhejiang residents must compete based on either household registration or social insurance location, while participants from outside the province may register according to their place of study or social insurance registration.

The competition will include both youth and adult divisions, covering individual and relay races. Teams from each city across Zhejiang may register up to 60 youth athletes and 30 adult swimmers.

According to organizers, the league is designed as not only a sporting competition but also a platform to promote swimming culture and stimulate local consumption through "sports-plus" activities, including swimming carnivals, local markets and tourism programs linked to event tickets.

After the Asian Games in 2023 were hosted in the provincial capital Hangzhou, Zhejiang established a series of city-level sports leagues, including basketball league "Zhe BA" and tennis league "Zhe TA."

Zhejiang has established a deep swimming foundation. A report published on the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang Province website shows that the province currently has nearly 3,500 swimming venues and more than 2 million active swimmers.

Analysts noted that the Zhe SA could pioneer a new wave of local grassroots sporting events following the craze of football events.

"Zhejiang is pioneering the establishment of multiple grassroots city-level sports events, which fits the region's traditional strengths," sports commentator Yang Fan told the Global Times. "It might herald other places across China establishing their own strong sports beyond football."