Former swimming athlete strives for new honors with police

SHINE | 05-Jun-2022 | By Chen Huizhi

When Zhou Lili, a former medalist in various national and international swimming competitions, retired from professional sports in 2018, she was given dozens of jobs to choose from. But she had no second thoughts when she decided to become a police officer. “It was the most meaningful job to me, and it remains so for me to this day,” 28-year-old Zhou, who is a patrol officer of the port, waterway and border police in Shanghai, told Shanghai Daily.

Zhou continued to train at swimming pool after joining the police. She won four gold, three silver and one bronze medals for Chinese police at the World Police and Fire Games held in Chengdu, China, in 2019, and is a swimming and rescue skill trainer of the port, waterway and border police. However, her goal is no longer being fast, but being able to save people from the water more efficiently together with her colleagues. Most of the rescue tasks happen in the Huangpu River, the largest river in Shanghai, that flows through the center of the city. “Rescuers rarely jump into the river to save people, because the whirls and undercurrents are very dangerous,” Zhou said. “Instead, we have tools to help.” When a drowning case is reported, she explained, police officers who come to the rescue will arrive at the scene in three to five minutes and extend a stick with a ring at one end to the person in the water. The police boat stays one to two meters away from the person to prevent him from being pulled under it. Last year, Zhou suggested to her seniors the use of remotely controlled robotic life buoys in saving people from water. Her suggestion was accepted.

Late last year, the police introduced two types of such life buoy-shaped yachts. They can be operated from kilometers away and take up to four people.

Zhou took part in the research and development of the robots and contributed data from her long career as a professional athlete. “The robots are four times faster than the best human swimmers,” she said. “I’m happy that they have proved to be good helpers in rescuing people.” Working as a police officer is a great change as a former sports professional with new challenges. “When the temperature in the air is 10 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the river could be -10, and in summer the open river is more scorching than the land,” she said. “Also, as a police officer, I have to deal with much more people every day than I did when I was an athlete.” Despite that, Zhou enjoys her job and is dedicated. “The similarity of my new job to my previous career in sports is that it also calls for a strong sense of honor to be a part of a heightened collective goal,” she said. Zhou became a mother in December 2020. She said she hopes to set an example for her son by working hard.