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A Shenzhen man, who failed in an attempt to swim the English Channel last year, headed for Britain on Monday in a renewed attempt to conquer the Channel.
Zhao Yingfu, a 36-year-old swimming pool lifeguard with the Vanke Property Management Co., plans to make the new attempt July 20-27.
On Aug. 2, 2002, high seas caused by gusty winds forced Zhao to give up his first attempt to cross the channel after 11 hours and 14 minutes.
He had planned to break the year-old English Channel swim record by a Chinese, set in July 2001 when Zhang Jian, 27, a teacher at the Beijing Physical Education University, crossed the Channel in 11 hours and 56 minutes July 30, 2001. Zhang was the first Chinese to make the crossing.
Zhao, a native of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, started swimming as a child. He swam across the Qiongzhou Straight between Guangdong Province and the island province of Hainan, in 2000 and 2001.
More than 800 people have swum the English Channel since Matthew Webb made the first crossing in 1875.
(Shenzhen Daily July 15, 2003)
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