The World Aquatics Championships are in full swing in Qatar, and in the swimming competition, Pan Zhanle of the Chinese men's team has undoubtedly become the focus of attention, he helped the Chinese team win the gold medal in the 4×100m freestyle relay on the first day of the swimming event, and also broke the 100-meter freestyle world record, which can be described as an earth-shattering feat. In the early morning of February 16, Beijing time, Pan Zhanle made persistent efforts and won the individual gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle.
Pan Zhanle's performance at the World Swimming Championships has created three history: first, this is Pan Zhanle's first individual gold medal at the World Championships, and the 100-meter freestyle in the relay competition broke the world record, and Pan Zhanle has become a well-deserved light of Asia. Second, Pan Zhanle became the first Chinese man to win the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle after Ning Zetao in 2015. Third, after winning two gold medals at the World Championships in a single session, Pan Zhanle became the third athlete in the Chinese men's swimming team to have two or more gold medals after Sun Yang and Qin Haiyang. So, what are the stories behind Pan Zhanle's birth?
Born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province in August 2004, Pan Zhanle began to learn to swim at the age of 6 at the Wenzhou Youth Swimming School, and showed amazing swimming talent. Pan Zhanle rose to prominence at the Wenzhou Games at the age of 9 and won the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m medley, 400m freestyle and three relay competitions. Because of Pan Zhanle's outstanding swimming talent and excellent competition results, at the age of 14, he was selected to enter the Zhejiang Provincial Swimming Team. Since then, in the national competition, Pan Zhanle has been known and understood by more people.
In May 2019, at the National Youth Swimming Championships, Pan Zhanle partnered with his companions and won the 4×100m freestyle relay championship. In June of the same year, Pan Zhanle won the third place in the 800-meter freestyle and the 1500-meter freestyle championship at the National Summer Swimming Championships. In the 14th National Games in 2021, Pan Zhanle and his teammates won the second place in the 4×100m freestyle relay, and at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in the same year, Pan Zhanle and his teammates won the fifth place in the 4×50m and 4×200m races.
At the 2022 Budapest World Swimming Championships, Pan Zhanle was in great shape. In the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle, Pan Zhanle qualified for the final with a time of 47.65 seconds, which tied the national record held by Ning Zetao and became the second athlete in the history of Chinese men's sprint freestyle to break the 48-second mark. In the 100m freestyle final, Pan Zhanle finished fourth with a time of 47.79 seconds.
In the National Swimming Championships in May 2023, Pan Zhanle won the 100-meter freestyle championship with a time of 47.22 seconds and broke the Asian record in this event. In the 200-meter freestyle competition, Pan Zhanle not only won the championship with a time of 1:44.65, but also created the world's best result in this event that year. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Pan Zhanle finished fourth in the 100m freestyle, but he once again set a new Asian record. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, in the 4×100m medley relay, Pan Zhanle cooperated with his teammates to break the Asian record with a time of 3:27.01 and won the gold medal in this event.
With a height of 1.98 meters and an arm span of 2.10 meters, Pan Zhanle is relatively thin, compared to those tall swimmers, Pan Zhanle's body and strength are slightly lacking, but he has become a rising star in the Chinese and world swimming circles with his unique swimming skills. Each stroke is full of power and grace, as if the water is under his control all along. In swimming, Pan Zhanle does not pursue fancy movements, nor does he waste physical energy with superfluous movements, but pays more attention to efficiency and streamlining, so he has achieved great success with his excellent water sense and technique. The skinny Pan Zhanle has become a pioneering swimming genius with a wonderful new swimming method, and has also attracted great attention from FINA.
2024 is an Olympic year, so the World Swimming Championships in Qatar in February did not show up for some of the best athletes. The Chinese swimming team's last World Championships champions Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yufei were both absent, and most of the athletes sent this time were relatively young, and the youngest female athlete, Gong Zhenqi, was only 14 years old. Before the competition, not many sports fans knew the true strength of the 19-year-old Pan Zhanle, but on the first day of the swimming competition, Pan Zhanle became the center of attention, he teamed up with his teammates to win the gold medal in the 4×100m freestyle relay, and as the first baseman, Pan Zhanle also broke the 100m freestyle world record with a time of 46.80 seconds.
After the competition, some people thought that Pan Zhanle's results were just a flash of inspiration, and he might not be able to perform well in a single competition. Sure enough, in the subsequent 200-meter freestyle competition, Pan Zhanle did not even make it to the semifinals. For a while, the voice of questioning Pan Zhanle suddenly rose, but Pan Zhanle naturally knew it. In the 100-meter freestyle preliminaries and semifinals, Pan Zhanle was the first place, and after the game, Pan Zhanle told reporters that he only needed to exert his strength in the first 50 meters, and watch the runners next to him swim in the last 50 meters. This is the self-confidence built on the back of great strength, and it is also the best way for Pan Zhanle to retain his physical strength.
In the 100-meter freestyle final, Chinese sports fans are full of infinite expectations for Pan Zhanle. But the process of the competition was full of twists and turns, Miresi from Italy, Nemet from Hungary and others launched a strong impact on Pan Zhanle, and even in the last few meters of the race, the championship was full of suspense. But the more in this atmosphere of fierce competition, the more Pan Zhanle's extraordinary sprinting ability is shown. When he was 6 meters away from the finish line, Pan Zhanle was still in 4th place, and 4 meters before the finish line, Pan Zhanle, who had just rushed to the second place, slipped to 3rd place, but in the end Pan Zhanle still won the championship with a time of 47.53 seconds.
How good is Poon's world record of 46.80 seconds? Previously, the world record in the 100m freestyle was Popovich's 46.86 seconds, and he broke the 13-year-old world record of 46.91 seconds. And the latter record was set in the era of fast swimsuits. In recent years, it has been rare for a yellow man to swim 48 seconds in the 100m freestyle, with world champion Ning Zetao's best time of 47.65 seconds nine years ago, followed by South Korea's Hwang Sun-woo setting a new Asian record in 47.56 seconds. Therefore, many people commented that Pan Zhanle's world record breaking results are comparable to Liu Xiang on the 110-meter hurdles track, and this analogy is not too much at all.
Having won the world title but not breaking the world record again, some people think that Pan Zhanle is a bit regretful. Regarding Pan Zhanle's time of 47.53 seconds in the 100m freestyle final, he himself said that he hopes to adjust his condition during the Olympic Games, and looks forward to the vision of breaking the world record again at the Paris Olympics. Of course, Pan Zhanle is still very young, everything is possible in the future, he is a leader in Chinese sprint swimming, he has great potential, and if he develops normally, he is expected to become the second Sun Yang. Therefore, we sincerely wish Pan Zhanle to win glory for the country again in the Paris Olympics and add color to Chinese swimming!