A decade ago, during the 15th Provincial Games of Zhejiang, a 10-year-old swimmer named Pan Zhanle made a seemingly innocent statement during an interview about his future goals: “Being faster than Sun Yang is enough.”
At that time, Sun, the Olympic champion freestyler, was at the peak of his career, having gained widespread recognition for clinching two gold medals in the 400m and 1,500m events during his Olympic debut at London 2012.
Initially dismissed as mere childhood banter, Pan, the young boy who dared to dream big, etched a remarkable chapter in Chinese swimming history with his record-breaking performances at the recent Paris Olympics.
On Aug 1, he stunned the crowd at the Paris La Defense Arena by setting a new world record of 46.40 seconds in the 100m freestyle final. Just four days later, he surpassed his own record with a 45.92s final leg in the men’s 4x100m medley relay, solidifying his place among the swimming elite.
“I hope to continue doing my best to break the record in the men’s 100m freestyle, pushing the boundaries further, and showing myself and the world where the human limit in this event truly lies,” Pan said during a visit to Macao following his Paris heroics.
Hailing from Wenzhou in Zhejiang, a city renowned for its multitude of swimming venues — numbering more than a hundred — Pan was introduced to swimming by his parents from a young age.
Showing early signs of promise, he was scouted by the Wenzhou Sports School at the age of seven to pursue a potential career in the sport.
Wang Shi, serving as Pan’s coach at the school, reminisced, “Back then, Pan was small in stature, not much of a talker, but dedicated during training.”
“When it came to freestyle leg kicks, while other children would slack off when they began to tire, he could keep it up consistently,” Wang recalled.
In the school’s swimming team, if a member underperformed, coaches would typically penalize them with additional training.
However, Wang took a different approach with Pan.
“I would restrict his pool time as a punishment, which he found particularly hard to accept,” Wang said.
Pan said that he was born to be “rebellious”.
“The more people doubt my abilities, the more determined I am to prove them wrong,” he said.