Pan Zhanle 100m world record ignites aquatics world championships

DOHA – China’s wunderkind Pan Zhanle, 19, clinched the men’s 100m freestyle world record on Feb 11 to ignite the opening day of swimming at the Aquatics World Championships in Doha, where Kim Woo-min claimed a surprise 400m free title for South Korea.

Having flirted with the world record at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Pan clocked 46.80 seconds in a stunning lead-off swim in the 4x100m relay to eclipse the previous mark of 46.86sec set by Romania’s David Popovici.

“Breaking the world record is an honour for me,” said Pan, who powered China to the relay title (3min 11.08sec) ahead of Italy (3:12.08) and the United States (3:12.29).

“This is a motivation for both young and old swimmers. I believe I can go faster than today’s time. It is truly a magical night.”

Pan’s swim at Doha’s Aspire Dome pool makes him favourite for the individual 100m free title and gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He crashed out of the 200m free heats on Feb 12 though after a 1:51.03 swim placed him 38th fastest.

Kim, meanwhile, upset a strong field for the 400m free gold, charging out to a big lead midway through the final.

He held on to win in 3:42.71 as Australian runner-up Elijah Winnington (3:42.86) and German bronze medallist Lukas Martens (3:42.96) threatened to overhaul him in a fierce final-lap sprint.

Kim, 23, shaved more than a second off his personal best.

“I didn’t expect to win a medal. I was just happy to be racing against these champions,” he said via an interpreter after emulating compatriot Park Tae-hwan, a former 400m world champion. “My main focus was the beginning of the race because I believe it’s my strength. But now on, I will have to focus on the second part.”

Winnington, who won the world title in 2022, enjoyed a return to form in the lead-up to Paris, having slumped to seventh at the World Championships in Fukuoka last July.

“I definitely came off the back of a very disappointing last year and to turn around this much in six months’ time, I’m really happy,” he said. “I’m in a really good headspace and that just proved it... It’s the second-best time of my career.”

Kim was not the only surprise in the 400m. Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui bombed out in the preliminaries. The Tunisian was 17th fastest in the heats and will hope for far better when he defends his 800m and 1,500m free titles later in the meet.

Ruta Meilutyte’s title defence in the women’s 100m breaststroke ended at the first hurdle as the Lithuanian failed to reach the semi-finals on Feb 12.

Meilutyte, who took gold in the event at the 2012 London Olympics as a 15-year-old, was 17th quickest in the heats (1:07.79), more than three seconds off her gold medal swim at the Fukuoka world championships in 2023.

New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather claimed the women’s 400m free title in 3:59.49, blitzing a field lacking the power trio of world record holder Ariarne Titmus, Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh and American great Katie Ledecky.

Fairweather finished in 3:59.44, more than two seconds ahead of China's silver medallist Li Bingjie (4:01.62), with German Isabel Gose taking bronze (4:02.39).

With several of their best women absent, Australia missed out on a fourth consecutive 4x100m relay world title, finishing second behind the Netherlands (3:36.61) in 3:36.93. The Canadians were third in 3:37.95. REUTERS