Shen Duo is one of the world’s most promising young swimmers. In 2014, Duo launched into the international scene, picking up nine international gold medals.
The sprint freestyle specialist from China was discovered at 13 years old by American coach, Ron Turner. He said that at the time, her technique wasn’t great but he saw the potential in the young swimmer with a lanky frame and big hands and feet. Duo swam under Turner at Jiangsu Provincial Team before moving on to the Nanjing Sports Institute.
International Career
At 17 years old, the 6 foot sprinter grabbed the world attention during her first year on the international scene.
2014 Summer Youth Olympics
Racing in front of fans in her home city, Duo and her Chinese teammates took two golds on opening night in Nanjing. The wins in mixed 4×100 meter freestyle and 4×100 meter medley relays also set new World Junior Records.
After a day off, Duo returned to the pool for her specialty 100 meter freestyle. There was some doubt to what the World Junior record was, since Duo’s 54.15 from earlier in the year wasn’t listed by FINA. There was no doubt, however, after Duo touched home first in 53.84 in the finals. With three gold and three Junior World records in as many swims under her belt, her remaining two swims were not a problem. Duo earned golds in 200 meter freestyle in 1:56.12 and gold in girls 4×100 meter freestyle relay.
2014 Asian Games
Just one month after taking the swimming world by storm, Duo was back in action at the Asian Games in South Korea. Duo added four more golds to her collection. Her first came in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay with a 53.58 split. Although not as fast as the previous month, Duo continued her fine form in the 100 meter freestyle just beating out her teammate Tang Yi, in 54.37. Her other golds came in the 200 meter freestyle and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.
2015 FINA World Championships
In Kazan, Duo reached the finals in all six of her events. Her best finish came in the 4×100 meter medley relay. Duo helped her chinese teammates to a gold with a anchor split of 53.00. With Duo as anchor again in the 4×200 freestyle relay, China earned bronze with Duo splitting 1:55.94. In her remaining events, Duo finished in 6th, 7th and 8th place in the 200 meter freestyle, 4×100 meter freestyle relay and 100 freestyle respectively.
2016 Rio Olympics
Duo finished fifth in the 200M freestyle turning in a time of 1:55.25, tying with Aussie swimmer Bronte Barratt. In the 4X200M Free Relay, Duo and teammates Shijia, Yuhan, and Yanhan finished in fourth place with a time of 7:47.96, more than two seconds behind bronze medalists, Canada.
