During the Doha World Championships on Wednesday, Pan Zhanle, the recently established world record holder from China, secured the highest qualifying position for the men’s 100-meter freestyle semi-finals. In the morning session at the Aspire Dome pool, he clocked in at 47.82 seconds, slightly exceeding the remarkable record of 46.80 seconds that he had set on Sunday during his impressive lead-off swim in the relay, which China won.
His time puts him right in the gold-medal conversation, even though the circumstances of an Olympic final are far more challenging than a world-class meet. Pan, 19, is the latest in a line of young Chinese swimmers to take advantage of a golden age in the sport. He was selected to a junior program at four years old and quickly proved his exceptional ability.
He has a list of impressive performances in major competitions, including a silver-medal swim at last year’s Olympics and a world title this summer. And his time in Doha suggests that he is even closer to breaking out as one of the best 100 free swimmers in history.
Several younger challengers are inching ever closer to the elite level in the event, led by Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and the United States’ Caeleb Dressel. The pair have struggled with injuries recently, but both are back and appear on track for a medal run in Paris.
Other potential finalists include Japan’s Tokyo fourth-place finisher Hwang Sunwoo and Britain’s Matt Richards, who were fifth and sixth in Doha, respectively. Canada’s Josh Liendo and Switzerland’s Maxime Grousset also have 47-low talent, while defending champion Katinka Hosszu is in solid shape with a second straight fast qualifying time for the semi-finals.
Olympic medallist Jeremy Desplanches of Switzerland made it through the 200m medley heats in third place, ahead of two Hungarians and three Britons. That paved the way for a final that could see him become the first man from his country to win three medals in swimming at one Games, surpassing Henry Taylor’s haul of gold and silver at London 1908.
