Zhao Qiguang (in first row) playing Taiji at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. Photos Provided to China Daily

Zhao Qiguang, a professor at Carleton College in Minnesota and distinguished Chinese scholar, had a childhood fascination with the Venetian explorer Marco Polo and a passion for swimming.

But on March 13 that passion for water was overcome by a rip tide off the coast of Miami. He died on the eve of his 67th birthday, and the day before the birth of a granddaughter.

"I aspire to read the most fantastic books, meet the most phenomenal people, witness the most marvelous landscapes and swim in the most splendid waters," Zhao Qiguang wrote in 2013.

Zhao had a lifelong passion for swimming. Before his death in the waters off Miami Beach, he had conquered many famous rivers, including the Yangtze and the Yellow in China and the Mississippi in the United States.

"Qiguang was a good swimmer. He won several championships in college, and rescued many drowning people," said his older brother, Zhao Qizheng.

He said his younger brother pulled a drowning man from a lake when he was still in high school. "He followed the ambulance on a bicycle to the hospital, only to find the man had died. He was deeply saddened," he said. "Now, they have probably met in heaven."

Zhao spent almost 30 years on the faculty of Carleton College in Northfield, a liberal arts school with about 2,000 students. He joined it in 1987 to teach Chinese language and culture. Zhao founded and chaired the college's department of Chinese Studies and Chinese language and its culture center.

Inspired by his fascination with Polo since childhood, Zhao went to Venice in 2014 to follow the route the explorer had taken to Beijing.

Polo remained in China for 17 years during the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, and introduced life in the East to the Western world in his book The Marvels of the World, also known as The Travels of Marco Polo.

"I went to visit Marco Polo's birthplace and his former residence, paged through the very first version of his book and his parchment-recorded testament in particular," Zhao said in an interview. He was "contemplating themeaning and implications of a Westerner discovering the East back then and asking whatresonance that has for the world today".

Zhao's journey became a television documentary - Marco Polo: A Very Modern Journey - that examined the meaning and implications of Polo's journey. Zhao served as commentator and consultant for the documentary, working with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV and Al Jazeera. Carleton screened the documentary in January.