A 17-year-old who claimed both girl’s breaststroke titles at the China Youth Games last month died yesterday morning after collapsing and being rushed to hospital from a dormitory on national-team camp in Beijing.
Qing Wenyi screamed out before collapsing at 4am, according to a roommate cited by Xinhua who rushed to her fellow swimmer’s aid only to find her unresponsive. Qing was taken to Tiantan Hospital near the Temple of Heaven but an hour-long struggle by doctors failed to resuscitate her.
The incident has prompted a wave of concern in the ranks of the Chinese swimming community, who are now calling on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to intervene. Sources who cannot be named, keen their fear of consequence for speaking out, have told SwimVortex that reports suggesting Qing’s parents immediately demanded that no autopsy was performed so that their daughter could rest in peace reflect coercion and control being exerted by those who would not wish the truth to emerge.
The news coincides with more speculation emerging from concerned members of the China swim community who believe two teenage boys coached in Tainjin by Zhou Ming, a chief architect of the China doping crisis of the 1990s, have tested positive for doping. A source says:
“The rumour was rife on the deck in Fuzhou … and coaches and swimmers were told by officials not to talk about things that were nothing to do with them.”
Zhou is the former national team coach with a large number of steroid positives among his personal charges and who in 1998 was banned for life according to the official pronouncements of the Chinese delegation sitting alongside FINA leaders at the Perth 1998 World Championships. The ban was later reduced to eight years, according to Chinese sources though no such thing was ever announced by FINA.
Sources tell SwimVortex that the rumour on the deck at the Games in Fuzhou two weeks ago was that both of Ming’s charges had tested positive for doping. Both boys, one of them said to be Wang Lizhou – the first Chinese swimmer inside the minute over 100m breaststroke with a 59.79 that can definitively be described as blistering for a 16-year-old – were on the original start sheet for the meet but had been removed when competition began. Ming was also said to have been ‘removed’ from the event.
There is no confirmation of any positive tests nor can Zhou and his swimmers be contacted. What is known is that the speculation surrounding them reflects mounting concern in Chinese swimming over the pressures being placed on coaches and young swimmers to land results at youth events where the size of financial rewards available come hand in hand with the dark influence of gamblers.
Sources have told SwimVortex that they have witnessed swimmers being removed from the call room before races because they might be a threat to the desired result. In the two examples cited at one event, one a solo race the other a relay, a whole quartet said to have been told to quit the race at the last moment, the withdrawals could be corroborated, both races going with seven lanes not eight. In another relay, in which there were plenty of teams to fill a final, only six teams raced in the final.
Qing’s Death Sparks Calls For WADA Intervention & Autopsy
qingwenyi1qingwenyipodiumThe news of Qing’s death has prompted some in the China swim community to reach out for help from international agencies. [Photo: Qing Wenyi, left and on the podium, centre – stills from Chinese TV].
On October 28, Qing is said to have completed a physical examination alongside teammates on camp. All was normal, according to reports. That marked the end of the Games and arrival on national-team camp. In the previous week, the 17-year-old had claimed gold over 100 and 200m breaststroke at the China Youth Games in times of 1:08 and 2:30.
Yesterday morning, she was pronounced dead an hour or so after arrival at Tiantan Hospital. After her victories in Fuzhou, Qing left for national-team camp. The first few days involved swimming down, recovery sets and work that a source says was “nothing of intense nature”. Sessions were little more than 1,000m, according to Chinese media reports.
Move ahead to Monday November 9 and at 9pm the night before her death, we find Qing calling her mother to discuss school work, according to Chinese media reports. At 10.30pm she is said to have posted a message on a chat network shared by a circle of friends.
At 4am one of Qing’s roommates is shaken from sleep by a “loud scream” from Qing, Xinhua reports state. The teammate turned the lights on, rushed to Qing’s bed but got no response. The on-site doctor was called; an ambulance followed; paramedics tried to resuscitate the swimmer. It was too late. Tiantan Hospital later confirmed her death and notified swim team leaders, Qing’s parents, teammates, the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau. Representatives from all those entities are reported to have “arrived separately Tiantan Hospital” in the hour in which Qing was fighting for life.
Qing was an only child. Her parents’ grief is reported to have led to them to ask that no autopsy be carried out. In many parts of the world, such a request would not be possible, the decision to perform an autopsy resting with medical and legal authorities depending on the circumstances of death.
Sources tell SwimVortex that the parents would indeed wish to know how and why their daughter died. Chinese authorities, they believe, should press for an autopsy so that the truth can be known and lessons can be learned, regardless of whether doping, ill-health, genetic propensity or anything else along as spectrum of possible causes are at play.
Without an autopsy it will be impossible to say what Qing died from, impossible to tell if a medical condition was at play, impossible to develop preventative measures to ensure no repeat if the reason lends itself to that scenario.
Qing raced for the Beijing Shunyi team that often trains at the Water Cube, host of the 2008 Olympic Games swimming and the place where Michael Phelps raced to eight gold medals. Reports of Qing’s win over 100m in Fuzhou include comment about her ambition to get down to the best times of Rikke Pedersen, the Danish ace who holds the world record at 2:19 and the Asian mark of 2:20 held by Rie Kaneto. For a 17-year-old on 2:30, a tall order ahead. Qing emerged from her 200m win in Fuzhou to say that the result was disappointing and that she aspired to much more.
She will race no more. Whether Wang Lizhou will remains to be seen. He was missing from the Youth Games as was the 18-year-old who on paper had been a medal hope in the 400m medley won by Wang Yexzhe from Shanghai.
Motivation, Ming & the Fears Therein
qingwenyi3The Youth Games at which Qing Wenyi, third left, raced her last race is big cheese in China. It developed into a multi-sport event and “mini China Olympics” out of the foundation of what from the 1950s had been the City Games of China. These days, the clamour for success at the Games is keen. Rumours are rife of heavy gambling cartels working on the edge of the action, the potential rewards big on the betting end of the business and big, too, off the blocks. One source told SwimVortex:
“Rumours of gambling are the strongest [at this event], hereditary provincialism still in place. Motivation to win medals is very high, and coach and swimmer prizes are very, very high.”
The source joked that the World Cup winners such as Katinka Hosszu, with a $100,000 top prize, might want to look to China instead, the relative sums for multi-race winners at least as sizeable.
Another source noted that Zhou Ming had last been seen at a youth meet in April and had been expected in Fuzhou with his key charges. Neither he nor they appeared. The sources told SwimVortex:
“The meet erupted with rumours. The boys had tested positive, it was said. Zhou Ming was removed as a result. Since the meet, questions have been asked, like ‘where are the boys and why did they not swim?'; and ‘where is Zhou Ming and why was he not at the meet?’.
There are fears that Ming will resurface, say sources inside China. The clean-sport enthusiasts in Chinese swimming are keen to see him no more, a source told SwimVortex. It is not going too far to say there is outrage in the Chinese community over Ming’s continued presence.
There have, as yet, been no answers for Chinese programmes that fear the worse, based on the calamities of the past, and believes that a failure to carry out an autopsy on Qing will only cause further speculation about events in Chinese swimming regarded with suspicion both at home and abroad at a time when doping in sport and the WADA IC report are making headlines around the world.