It’s a performance that has been labelled “mind blowing” and “never before seen”.
However, 100m freestyle gold medallist Pan Zhanle’s insane record-breaking swim almost never happened.
On the brink of an early elimination after a disappointing swim in his heat, Pan capped a remarkable 36-hour turnaround to thrash his rivals – and his own world record – in the 100m freestyle, defeating his swimming hero, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers.
Adding more merit to Pan’s feat is the fact he is the first person to set a new world record in the pool during these games amid the theory it’s been an “absurdly slow pool” in Paris.
With Pan and Chalmers lining up next to each other in lanes four and five, the Aussie didn’t have the cleanest of getaways and was near last at the 50m turn before charging to the line to nab the silver. But he and the rest of the field were in another race.
Even if Chalmers exploded off the blocks, it probably wouldn’t have mattered much. His Chinese opponent blitzed the rest of the field in one of the marquee events of the pool, stopping the clock in 46.40.
That was more than a second (1.08) faster than Chalmers. What’s even more remarkable is that Pan shaved 0.40 off his previous world record.
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“It’s insane. That world record, that swim is absolutely mind blowing,” Aussie Olympic legend Ian Thorpe said on the Channel 9 coverage.
Former 100m freestyle world champion James Magnussen was just as stunned.
“I never thought I would see that in my lifetime. That was a huge performance from Pan Zhanle,” Magnussen said.
“He went out in 22.28 and back 24.12 — that is just insane speed.
“The race was probably over at the 35m mark. Nobody was near him.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life”
Before the games started, the 19-year-old phenom was heavily favoured to take out the event.
While he was about to contest his first Olympics, Pan was the world record holder having set a new mark during February’s World Aquatics Championship in Doha with a stunning relay lead-off swim.
However, his claim for a maiden Olympic gold medal turned on his head after an extremely underwhelming performance in the heats.
It was the hottest field of 10 heats, Pan was noticeably off the pace and touched the wall in sixth and in a time of 48.40 – 0.33 off the winner Chalmers.
Thorpe noted after the heat that the world record holder was “in trouble” of making the semis, while three-time Olympic medallist Nicole Livingstone said “he did not look good at all”.
“I was waiting for him to come back in the second 50 but it did not happen,” she said on the Stan Sport coverage.
Pan finished in a three-way tie for 13th in the heat – sneaking into the semi finals by just 0.05 seconds.
The surprising lull was short-lived, with Pan back to his blistering best in the semi final later that night, progressing through to the final with the quickest time.
24 hours later, he was on top of the swimming world after the mouth-dropping performance.
Pan revealed in the lead up to the games that he idolised Chalmers from a young age, pinpointing the moment the Aussie upset a strong 100m freestyle field in the 2016 Rio Olympics to claim gold.
In the eight years since, Chalmers hasn’t been able to reach the mountaintop again, but he has plenty to be proud of.
He was 0.06 off a 100m freestyle gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, unable to chase down American Caeleb Dressel, but charged home into a silver.
With the Paris silver, Chalmers becomes the first man since Alex Popov (1992, 1996, 2000) to medal in three consecutive Olympic 100m freestyle finals.
There were talks pre-games that the 26-year-old Chalmers could hang up the goggles following Paris.
However, the South Australian said he plans to swim on while also signalling he wished to help “inspire” the next generation of Australian swim stars.
“I did everything I possibly could and I’m really proud of that performance,” Chalmers told Channel 9.
“To get silver at my third Olympic Games, to be on the podium three consecutive times is something I’m gonna be very proud of and no one can ever take away from me.
“This is not my last individual event. No no no, I’m not retiring any time soon. I love it, I think I’ll continue on as long as I possibly can.
“But this race does mean a lot to me. It is really special. I’m probably just lost for words with it, really.
“Coming in, having three guys have a faster PB than me and being able to stay controlled and calm and know the pressure and expectation – so much – is on me.
“But I’m just really stoked with that. I don’t know what else to say. It’s amazing. I’m very honoured.
“My biggest goal now is just inspiring the next generation of swimmers coming through. I’m just a kid from country South Australia whose managed to progress onto the world stage in sport.
“For me, I can’t wait to go home to Port Lincoln and start inspiring the next generation to come through and help them believe it’s possible.”
Source Agencies
