2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
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Chinese sprinter Pan Zhanle obliterated the Asian Record in the final of the men’s 100 freestyle on Thursday at the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, tying for sixth place in a time of 45.77.
Pan’s time makes him the first Asian swimmer to dip under the 46-second barrier in the event, as he erases the previous Asian and Chinese Record of 46.14, set by Ning Zetao in 2017.
Pan, 18, came into the competition with a personal best time of 46.27, set at the Chinese Championships in October, and brought that down to 46.19 in the semis before ultimately tying with Cayman Islands’ Jordan Crooks in the final in 45.77.
Split Comparison
| Pan, 2021 SC Worlds (prelims) | Pan, 2022 SC Worlds (prelims) | Pan, 2022 SC Worlds (semis) | Pan, 2022 SC Worlds (final) |
| 22.37 | 22.53 | 22.09 | 21.91 |
| 46.92 (24.55) | 46.79 (24.26) | 46.19 (24.10) | 45.77 (23.86) |
Splits for the 46.27 swim are unavailable
Through each round in Melbourne, Pan got progressively faster on both the opening and closing splits, ultimately getting down to sub-22 opening up and sub-24 coming home.
At the 2022 Long Course World Championships this past June, which were prior to Pan’s 18th birthday in August, he matched Ning’s Asian and Chinese Record of 47.65 in the 100 free semis, and ultimately went on to finish fourth in the final, just eight one-hundredths shy of a medal in 47.79.
Pan flew a bit under the radar in the 100 free final in Melbourne, with a heavyweight showdown featuring some of the fastest men in history, including world record holder Kyle Chalmers and reigning LC world champion David Popovici.
In the end, it was Chalmers getting his hand on the wall first, winning gold on home soil in a new Championship Record of 45.16, with Frenchman Maxime Grousset (45.41), defending champion Alessandro Miressi (45.57) and Popovici (45.64) rounding out the top four.
Pan finished 28th in the men’s 100 IM on Thursday in a time of 54.63, and will contest the 200 free on Sunday, where he comes in as the 13th seed with his personal best of 1:42.66, just over three-tenths shy of the Chinese Record.
Multiple members of the Chinese team in Melbourne have tested positive for COVID-19, including Li Bingjie, but Pan appears to have avoided it.
Is he the same age as Popovici? Could he set a JWR? He was only 0.13 Popovici in the 100 free.
Yes, same age and could’ve broken WJR – he’s about two months older