Academy opens with new ideas

A new sports institute has vowed to produce more champions who will be both strong in body and mind.

The New Champion Academy, which was founded by former world champion volleyball player Yang Xi, has already introduced a tailor-made swimming program as it aims to cultivate a new breed of athletes with all-round abilities.

"The traditional impression of student athletes and high-score pupils is that they differ sharply in China," Qian Hong, a former Olympic champion swimmer, said at the launch of her swimming project at Yang's school on Thursday. "Whereas the former is often called muscular but poorly educated, the latter is usually described as myopic and obese.