HIGH-FLYING CHINESE PUT AUSSIES ON NOTICE
Australia’s champion swimmers have been sent an ominous warning that their Olympic pool party is about to come under siege from a resurgent Chinese team.
The signs of China’s reemergence as a powerful force in Olympic swimming have been simmering away for years but they came to the boil at the world championships in Doha on Monday after a scarcely believable performance by Pan Zhanle.
Just 19, Pan demolished the 100m freestyle world record when he led off the Chinese 4x100m relay to gold to confirm himself as the favourite for gold in the blue-riband event in Paris.
His eye-popping time of 46.80 seconds wiped 0.06 off the previous mark of 46.86 set in 2022 by another 19-year-old speedster, Romania’s David Popovici, who had eclipsed a record set during the super suit era.
The performance of Pan and his teammates will set off alarm bells around the entire swimming world, especially in Australia after
Kyle Chalmers won the 100m freestyle world title last year and led a youthful Aussie team to victory in the relay.
Chalmers did not enter the world championships in Doha because he’s focusing on Paris but “King Kyle” will be under no illusions that his biggest threat for Paris right now is the Chinese teenager who has beaten the Australian’s lifetime best (47.08) three times in the past five months.
Zac Stubblety-Cook lost his 200m breaststroke world title – and world record – to China’s Qin Haiyang last year.
And China’s women beat the star-studded Aussies (and their world record) to win the 4x200m freestyle gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Zhang Yufei won the women’s 100m butterfly title last year to relegate Emma McKeon to fourth place, while Li Bingji took the silver medal in the 800m ahead of Ariarne Titmus.
China’s plans to dominate swimming also has some of the old guard interested.
Sun Yang is still hoping to make the team for Paris when his doping ban expires in May.
If he does make it to Paris, Sun would likely face two Aussies – Sam Short and Elijah Winnington – in the 400m freestyle, which is the first event on the Olympic swimming schedule.
Short won the world title in 2023, while Winnington was crowned world champion in 2022 before he took silver on Monday morning when he finished a close second behind South Korea’s Kim Woo-min.