"Breaking the world record just came naturally"- Pan Zhanle opens up on smashing the 100m freestyle world record

19-year-old Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle recently stunned the swimming world after recording the fastest 100m in freestyle.

Zhanle achieved this feat on Sunday, February 11, at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships held at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. He contributed to the Chinese team's success, including Xinjie Ji, Zhanshuo Zhang, and Haoyu Wang by swimming the last leg in the men's 4x100m freestyle.

Zhanle recorded an impressive time of 46.80 seconds in the last 100m. The team registered 3:11.08 to win a gold medal. Romanian swimmer David Popovici set the previous 100m freestyle record of 48.86 seconds during the 2022 European Championships.

Speaking to World Aquatics after his race, Zhanle stated that breaking the world record came naturally to him and also disclosed his goal of swimming faster.

"Breaking the world record is an honor for me," Zhanle said. "This is a motivation for both young and old swimmers. I believe I can go faster than today’s time. Breaking the world record just came naturally and now my goal is to swim even faster."

Further, the 19-year-old also extended his gratitude toward his teammates and shared his intention of working with determination for the upcoming Olympics.

"It’s important to focus on myself in order to achieve a better result. The celebration pose in the end came from me and we all loved it. It is truly a magical night!"

"I’m lucky to have awesome teammates and we did really well today. It’s just the first day and I’ve been feeling very excited. This is just a start and I’m looking for a breakthrough. I’ll keep working hard for the Paris Olympics," Pan Zhanle said.

During the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, he bagged a silver medal along with the team in the men's 4x100m medley event.

A look at Pan Zhanle's successful run at the 2022 Asian Games

Zhanle Pan at the start of the Men's 100m Freestyle during the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Abu Dhabi.

Pan Zhanle enjoyed a victorious streak at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. The young swimmer bagged three gold, three silver, and two bronze medals in the home arena.

He secured a gold medal in the men's 100m after clocking a spectacular time of 46.97 to register an Asian record. Further, he clinched two more gold medals with the team in the men's 4x100m freestyle and medley relay. Three silver medals were earned in the 200m and 400m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle events. Moreover, he secured a bronze medal in the 50m freestyle after clocking 21.92 seconds.

Only five swimmers broke the 47 mark barrier in the 100m freestyle event, with Pan Zhanle becoming the first Chinese male swimmer to achieve this feat.