Worlds are not enough for Wang
Schoolgirl determined to break Ledecky dominance after bagging first global title
With a breakthrough year behind her, Chinese schoolgirl Wang Jianjiahe has emerged as the leading contender to challenge Katie Ledecky’s freestyle dominance.
Ledecky has reigned supreme in the stroke in recent years, turning every race she enters into a battle for silver.
The 16-year-old Wang, though, is not content to settle for second and sounded a warning to the American by storming to her first world title in the 800m free at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Hangzhou on Thursday. Ledecky is giving the short-course meet a miss.
Wang led from start to finish, clocking 8 min and 4.35 sec to beat Italian Simona Quadarella and Leah Smith of the United States by about four seconds.
The teenager, however, was keeping her feet on the ground after claiming the host’s second gold of the championships.
“To finish on top of the podium at home feels great but I am not satisfied with my result today,” said Wang, who clocked a personal best of 7:59.44, just 0.1 second shy of Spaniard Mireia Belmonte’s world short-course record, in Budapest in October.
“As far as challenging Ledecky is concerned, I am still far behind her now as she remains the undisputed leader in the world.
“I won’t stop trying though, knowing that I still have a long career ahead of me. I am looking forward to the race with her at next year’s long-course world championships.”
As the current long-course worldrecord holder in 400, 800 and 1500 free, Ledecky looks set to continue her golden sweep at the 2019 worlds in Gwangju, South Korea.
Since shooting to stardom at the 2013 worlds in Barcelona at 16, the Washington DC native has collected five Olympic golds and 14 world titles.
Wang has also made a name for herself at the same age — bagging four golds (400, 800 and 1500 free, as well as 4x200 relay) at this summer’s Asian Games in Indonesia, her first major championships.
She continued her red-hot form at the World Cup series in Budapest in October by clocking 3:54.52 in the 400 free to shatter veteran Belmonte’s 2013 short-course world record by 0.55 seconds.
Wang’s rapid rise to prominence has seen her eclipse teammate Li Bingjie, who trailed Ledecky in the 800 free with an Asian record of 8:15.46 at last year’s long-course worlds after winning a bronze in the 400 at 15.
Li is just four months older than Wang, with the latter believing the competition between the pair helps in their pursuit of Ledecky.
“Everyone has a different development path,” said Wang. “I follow the pace of my own but we have such good competition and the relationship between us is very good. We often hang out in our spare time, go shopping or watch movies together.”
Standing 1.83 meters tall, Wang, who started swimming at the age of 6 to lose weight, has just scratched the surface of her potential, both physically and technically, according to her coach, Han Bingyan.
“She is still young and there is still much room for improvement,” said Han, who puts Wang through rigorous daily workouts that can total as much as 14 kilometers.
“We must stay realistic and ambitious at the same time. Don’t expect to close the gap quickly but try as hard as we can every day to lay the foundation in strength, endurance and technical details for more breakthroughs.”
Wang, a Liaoning native, is ready for more hard work.
“Coach Han has high expectations, but this helps me,” she said.
“If I don’t meet his requirements in training, I keep doing it until I reach them. I am not afraid of him though, he is like a father to me.”
As far as challenging (Katie) Ledecky is concerned, I am still far behind her now as she remains the undisputed leader in the world.” Wang Jianjiahe