Pan Zhanle (Chinese: 潘展乐, born 4 August 2004) is a Chinese freestyle swimmer, Olympic champion, and current world record holder of the 100 metre freestyle event. In 2023, Pan became the first swimmer in history to have all three achievements of reaching sub-22 seconds in the 50 metre freestyle, sub-47 seconds in the 100 metre freestyle, and sub-1:45 in the 200 metre freestyle. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, he won gold in the 100 metre freestyle, breaking his own world record in the process.
Career
Early career
In 2019 at 15 years old, Pan made his first major competition debut at the 2019 Chinese Summer LC Swimming Championships. He competed in the 1500 metre freestyle, winning with a time of 15:33.48.[1]
At the 2020 Chinese Olympic Team Trials, Pan placed second in the finals of the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 48.74 seconds, finishing just 0.03 seconds behind He Junyi. He also competed in the 200 and 400 metre freestyle events.[1]
In 2021, Pan competed at the Chinese Summer Nationals and National Games of China. In both competitions, he competed in the 50, 100, and 400 metre freestyle events. At the National Games, he finished third in the 100 metre freestyle with a personal best time of 48.59 seconds.[1]
International debut and breakthrough
At the age of 17, Pan made his international debut at the 2021 FINA SC World Championships. He swam in the 200, 400, and 800 metre freestyle relay events, helping China place fifth in all three events. Individually, Pan finished eleventh in the semifinals of the 100 metre freestyle.[1]
At the 2023 Chinese National Championships, Pan set a new Asian record of 47.22 seconds in men's 100 metre freestyle, which was previously held by South Korean swimmer Hwang Sun-woo.[4] With a time of 1:44:65, Pan also became the second Chinese male swimmer in history to break the 1:45 barrier in 200 metre freestyle after Sun Yang.[5]
At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Pan finished in fourth in the 100 metre freestyle final with a time of 47.43.[6] As the anchor log, Pan helped China win a silver medal in the men’s 4x100 metre medley relay by splitting a 46.62.[7]
Pan first broke the 47-second barrier for the long course 100 metre freestyle at the 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). With a time of 46.97 seconds, Pan became the fifth man in history to achieve this milestone as well as breaking his own Asian record.[8] He also won a silver medal in 200 metre and 400 metre freestyle and a bronze medal in 50 metre freestyle.[9][10] During the games, Pan became the first swimmer in history to have all three achievements of reaching sub-22 seconds in the 50 metre freestyle, sub-47 seconds in the 100 metre freestyle, and sub-1:45 in the 200 metre freestyle.[11] Pan's performance also helped the Chinese team break the Asian record in men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay.[12] The Chinese men's 4x100 metre medley relay team, anchored by Pan, produced a winning time of 3:27.01 collectively, which was the second-fastest in history.[13]
Pan broke the world record for the first time at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. His swim in the leadoff leg enabled the Chinese team to win the gold medal at men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay, and his time of 46.80 broke the world record in 100 metre freestyle, previously held by Romanian swimmer David Popovici, by 0.06 seconds.[14] Pan also won the individual 100 metre freestyle race.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Pan won gold in the 100 metre freestyle. With a time of 46.40 seconds, he broke his own world record in the process. His margin of victory, 1.08 seconds, was the largest in this event since the 1928 Olympics, and his 0.40-second improvement on the world record was the biggest leap since 1976.[15] In the men’s 4x100 meters medley final, Pan's performance helped the Chinese team win the gold medal, delivering the first defeat to the United States in this event since it was included in the Olympic program at the 1960 Olympics.[16] As the anchor leg, he entered the water with his team in third place but overtook the swimmers from the United States and France in the final 100 meters, finishing with the fastest split in history in the men’s 100 m freestyle, clocking a 45.92, and securing the winning time of 3:27.46; beating the previous world's fastest split-time set by Jason Lezak's 46.06 anchor leg swim in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which Lezak and team made use of the high-tech swimwear.[16][17][18][19][20]
Physical attributes
According to a Weibo post from Pan on February 29, 2024, his height is currently 189.5 cm, and his arm span is 190.5 cm.[21]
Key: NR = National Record ; AS = Asian Record ; WJ = World Junior Record; WR = World Record ; OR = Olympic Record ; h = heats; sf = semifinal ; r = Relay
^Crouse, Karen (12 August 2008). "A Swim for the Ages by a Team's Oldest Racer". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 10 August 2024. Lezak is an enigma wrapped in a high-tech swimsuit. He trains alone but wants to be part of a group in competition. He was second at the United States Olympic trials in the 100-meter freestyle, which he will swim here Tuesday, but has built his reputation in relays... From a rolling start, Lezak covered the first 50 meters in 21.50 and came back in 24.56. His 46.06 was the fastest split ever and 1.3 seconds better than his previous best in a relay. "I'm still in shock," Lezak said. "I don't know exactly how I was able to bring it home that fast."
^Keith, Braden (10 December 2023). "The 'Jason Lezak' Relay Is Now the Oldest World Record in Swimming". SwimSwam. Retrieved 10 August 2024. The World Record... Grant Hackett's, was set on July 20, 2008, and at 5,621 days, was the oldest FINA/World Aquatics World Record still on the books. So that begs the question – what is the new oldest World Record? That honor now belongs to the US Men's 400 Free Relay World Record of 3:08.24, which was set on August 11, 2008. That record, the famous "Jason Lezak anchor" relay, is 5,599 days old. Besides Lezak, that relay included Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, and Cullen Jones.
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