Can Pan Zhanle Supplement Sprint Arsenal With More Distance Wins?
Some of the most unorthodox results on the World Cup circuit thus far belong to China’s Pan Zhanle, the swimmer who crushed the world record in the men’s 100 freestyle on his way to Olympic gold this summer. Three months later and now in the midst of short course season, Pan is finding success in much longer distances while struggling in his usual main events.
In two appearances in the 100 free, Pan has finished second and fourth, only once eclipsing the 46.40 he swam in long course in the Olympic final. Pan’s second-best event is considered the 200 free — he split 1:43.90 on an 800 free relay in February — but when he raced that event at the first World Cup stop in Shanghai, he placed ninth, missing out on an evening swim. Pan also tried his hand at the 100 IM in Shanghai, taking sixth (51.78).
Less than a week later as the series shifted to Incheon, he dropped the 200 free and 100 IM from his lineup to race the 400 and 800-meter events, not exactly a usual choice among his sprint brethren. The results were remarkable.
In the 400-meter final Thursday, Pan swam for much of the race behind Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, the United States’ Kieran Smith, Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys and Korea’s Kim Woomin, all swimmers with at least some previous success over the distance, with Kim becoming the long course world titlist in the event in February of this year. But none of these men could keep pace with Pan on the final 50, as he split 25.58, more than a second ahead of anyone else, to blast ahead and secure the win in 3:36.43.
Limited experience in the event did not hamper Pan as he moved into the all-time top-20 in history in the event. His time would have reached the podium at all previous Short Course World Championships except the most recent in 2022, where Rapsys’ bronze-medal-winning time of 3:36.26 was marginally quicker than Pan just swam.
Pan Zhanle — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Two days later, Pan would extend his range even further to the 800 free, posting a time of 7:35.30 to slice a quarter-second off the World Cup record set by Gabriele Detti in 2017. Remarkably, Pan negative-split the race, clocking 3:48.31 on the opening half before returning in 3:46.99. Distance swimmers negative-splitting a race is not unusual, but Pan is considered a sprinter first and foremost. Few 100-meter specialists have the tools to conserve energy through a race to be able to change gears to that extent down the stretch.
So do we now declare that Pan is a freestyle wizard with capabilities from 100 through 800 meters, the likes of which has not graced the global swimming stage in two decades? Ian Thorpe is the only male swimmer in the modern era to experience success across that wide spectrum. Thorpe won world titles in the 200, 400 and 800 free in 2001, all in world-record time, and two years later, he would again top the 200 and 400 on the global level while adding a bronze medal in the 100 free. He would duplicate those results at the Athens Olympics.
Pan is not there yet, mostly because these are short course times, and there is consistent history of swimmers excelling in longer distances in a shorter pool. The additional turns and push-offs provide speed-first swimmers a chance to briefly rest and maintain their momentum where they would not get that chance in long course.
Scott and Siobhan Haughey are examples of swimmers who specialize in 100 and 200-meter races but have done well in the 400-meter free in short course. During the most recent NCAA season, sprint standouts Gretchen Walsh, Josh Liendo and Jack Alexy each posted at least one strong time and/or relay split in the 200-yard free, even though none would ever seriously pursue the long course version of the event at a major meet.
But jumping up from the 100 in long course to the 800 in short course is practically unheard of, and we will need to see more from Pan to determine whether he has staying power in so many distances. The final World Cup stop in Singapore plus the Short Course World Championships this December could prove that his most recent swims were not a fluke, but after that, the focus returns to long course, and he will have another hurdle to clear.
Remember, the 20-year-old has not been consist in events over 100 meters in the 50-meter course. He raced the 200 free in Paris but bombed out in prelims, finishing 22nd out of 25 swimmers in 1:49.47, his time a whopping five-and-a-half seconds behind his relay split from earlier in the year. At that point, his Olympics were on the brink, and he barely snuck into the 100 free semifinals in a three-way tie for 13th. It was only after those bumps that Pan achieved his individual gold and world record, then his come-from-behind gold in the 400 medley relay to conclude the meet.
Thus, entering the 2025 long course season that will culminate in the World Championships next July in Singapore, Pan will be considered the clear No. 1 in the world in the 100 free but a big wildcard in anything longer, regardless of his unexpected result in short course distance events this fall. He will need to prove he can replicate those results in the big pool.
Pan tanked that 2free in Paris. He was all in on the 100
Yes it’s strategic but risky. He was capable of winning both but is important to conserve his energy for the big final. And could have missed the finals for both 100 and 200 if he took it too easy and slow for semis.
In the late 1970s, early 1980s, Tim Shaw held world records for 200, 400, 800 and 1500 free.