World silver medalist dies in fishing accident

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World championship silver medalist and Australian coach Zou Li Min drowned Sunday afternoon in a fishing accident. Zou was rock fishing in South Durras, New South Wales when he was swept off the rocks.

Zou Li Min was most recently coaching at Woden Valley Gymnastics Club in Canberra

Zou was a former member of the Chinese national team and a frequent competitor in the early 1980s. At the 1982 American Cup, he placed fifth in qualification and won floor exercise, and teamed up with female gymnast Tang Xiaoli to take second at the accompanying International Mixed Pairs. He won high bar at the 1983 Tokyo Cup, and tied Laurent Barbieri 1984 Antibes International.

Zou placed fifth all-around and first on high bar at the 1984 DTB Cup. His best results came in 1985, when he helped China win a team silver at the world championships in Montreal. He also won the all-around title at the 1985 Kraft International in London.
Zou retired from competition in 1986 and studied at the Beijing Institute of Sport. In 1990, he moved to Norway where he coached at the Starwanger Club. In 1993, he began coaching at the Australian Institute of Sport, and then at the Western Australian Institute of Sport. He has been a coach for the Australian senior national men's team since 1999, and was most recently coaching at Woden Valley Gymnastics Club in Canberra. He was named Gymnastics Australia's "MAG National Levels Coach of the Year" in 2005 and 2010.
"This tragedy has deeply affected everyone at the Club, particularly coaches and the senior boys and girls competitive training squads," read a statement from Woden Valley Gymnastics Club.
Rock fishing is a popular pastime in Australia, but can be extremely dangerous as fisherman can either slip or be swept off the rocks.
Zou is survived by his wife, Shuang, and their daughters Annette and Natalie.