Hendrix homage a splash hit
When legendary rock star Jimi Hendrix wrote the song “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” for a 1968 album, never did the American imagine that the prophetic words would become reality five decades later at the ongoing FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Hangzhou.
Sharing the same name with the singer and songwriter, swimmer James “Jimmy” Hendrix from the Pacific island of Guam made his international debut in the Zhejiang provincial capital, where his moniker has created a buzz.
“My last name Hendrix comes from my grandfather’s German side and my dad really liked Jimi Hendrix’s music, so he decided to name me this way to commemorate him,” said the 16-year-old freestyler.
On the start lists, he is registered as James Hendrix, but poolside it’s the guitar great’s variation of the name that is most commonly used.
“More people here call me Jimmy than James,” he said. “It feels actually pretty cool to be associated with a famous person in some way somehow.”
Born more than three decades after the Purple Haze singer’s tragic drug-related death at the age of 27, the young Hendrix does not share his father’s fervor for his namesake’s revolutionary music, although some songs have made it onto the swimmer’s playlist.
“My dad likes it more, he listens to it a lot,” Hendrix said. “I’m into all kinds of music depending on the type of mood I’m in.”
Unlike many top-level swimmers, such as Hungary’s medley queen Katinka Hosszu and American backstroke specialist Ryan Murphy who wear headphones before going to the starting blocks, the soft-spoken Hendrix prefers silence.
“I might listen to some music during warm-ups, but not really before my actual race,” he said.
Perhaps, though, he should consider some calming pre-race tunes following the bout of jitters he suffered before his worlds debut in the 50m freestyle preliminaries on Thursday morning,
“It was my first big race so I was kind of nervous and didn’t do even close to what I am capable of,” he said after clocking 25.33 seconds to finish 96th overall among the 124 entries.
Hendrix is expecting a better performance in his second race, the 100 free, on Saturday.
His goal is not qualification but merely to break 55 seconds — that’s 10 seconds slower than Frenchman Amary Leveaux’s world record.
“I am competing with myself. As long as I swim better than I did last time, I will be very happy,” he said.