Male World Record of the Year: Pan Zhanle Took the 100 Freestyle to Stunning Place
Upon touching the wall at the conclusion of the final of the 100-meter freestyle at last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, Pan Zhanle turned toward the scoreboard inside La Defense Arena. Once he saw the numbers next to his name, the Chinese star slapped the water and embarked on a deserved celebration that included some muscle flexing.
Around the venue, fans and members of the media blinked a few times while digesting what Pan had just accomplished: A 46.40 world record that destroyed Pan’s previous global standard and produced a victory of more than a second over a stacked field that included Olympic champions Kyle Chalmers and David Popovici.
Now, as 2024 nears its conclusion, Pan’s performance is being recognized as Swimming World’s choice for Male World Record of the Year. The Chinese athlete got the nod over American Bobby Finke, whose attacking approach landed him Paris gold and a world record in the 1500 freestyle. Finke broke the previous world record in the 1500 free with his effort of 14:30.67, an outing that shaved .35 off the 2012 mark of China’s Sun Yang.
What gave Pan the decision was the overwhelming dominance he managed in just two laps of racing. Pan entered the final of the 100 freestyle as the world-record holder, thanks to his 46.80 marker from the 2024 World Championships in Doha. Yet, his swim in the French capital was other-worldly, allowing him to defeat Chalmers – the 2016 Olympic titlist in the event – by 1.08 seconds. Popovici, a former world-record holder in the 100 free, was 1.09 seconds behind.
While most world records are cut by slim margins, the sprints are especially known for dropping by a few hundredths here and there. By lowering the world record by .40, Pan cut the most time off the standard in the 100 freestyle in nearly a half-century – since South African Jonty Skinner went 49.44 to take .55 off Jim Montgomery’s record.
“It’s crazy,” Chalmers said. “I did everything I possibly could to execute an amazing race and swimming the race the last 15 meters, breathing toward him, I thought I could be dead last because he was so far ahead of me. So, it was quite challenging knowing where I was, and I’m a person that swims with my eyes closed, just to be able to stick to my own race plan. And for him to produce a 46.40 and to break the world record in the Olympic final is incredible, compared to yesterday going 48.40 in the heat and almost missing it. It’s great that he’s able to reset and refocus and swim so fast tonight.”
The road to the Olympic title wasn’t exactly smooth for Pan – at least initially. In the prelims, Pan coasted to a time of 48.40, which was good for a tie for 13th and narrowly inside the cutoff for the semifinals. In the semifinals, though, Pan upped the pace with a swim of 47.21, good for the top seed and Lane Four in the final.
In pursuit of the Olympic crown, Pan left no doubt about the outcome. He immediately surged ahead of the field, touching at the midway point in a stunning split of 22.28. He continued to pull away on the homeward lap, which he covered in 24.12. The overall outcome was a world record of spectacular proportions.
Not surprisingly, a handful of doping accusations were thrown at Pan. However, Chalmers came to his defense by lauding the performance and the work his foe logged to produce it. Pan, himself, was honored to bring a gold medal home to China.
“For me, I don’t think (a world record/gold medal) means a lot because life continues,” Pan said. “For China, I think the gold medal means a lot because this is the first time the Chinese (broke) a world record in these Games, so I think this is something we need to feel happy about.”
I’m so proud of Pan Zhanle.
He n I having the same surname in Chinese which meant we could be related 😉😉. I’m extremely honored to see the way he swim as myself a swimmer too.
I know he achieve this with hard work, dedication n being talented helps.
It was a great WR swim no doubt. But what really makes a swimmer great is consistency. We’ll see whether Pan can manage that in coming years.