How Did World Champion Wu Peng Perform In His Return to Racing at 35?

TYR PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

• January 11-14, 2023
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• LCM (50 meters)
• Prelims/Finals
  • Prelims: 9:00 AM (EST)
  • Finals: 6:00 PM (EST), Day 1 4:00 PM
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35-year-old Chinese swimmer Wu Peng returned to racing on Thursday morning in Knoxville, Tennessee, almost a decade after his 2013 retirement.

Wu finished in 43rd place in the 100 meter fly in 56.40. That’s about four seconds shy of his personal best from the 2010 Pan Pac Championships.

• Wu’s splitting – 26.05/30.35 = 56.40

Wu is most famous for ending Michael Phelps’ nine-year undefeated streak in the 200 fly in 2011, beating the decorated American again a few months later.

Late last year, Wu posted a vlog on social media of him training in Mission Viejo with the post-grad/pro group under coach Jeff Julian. While he trained in the United States for much of his late career, after retirement he moved back home to China, where he has had a fruitful second career. Wu opened a chain of swim schools and has also served as a Chinese television commentator on a number of major international meets.

While Wu said he’s not quite comfortable giving interviews in English yet, his teammates tell SwimSwam that he is preparing for the Chinese National Championships, where his focus will be the 50 fly. That meet will be held in his hometown of Hangzhou, which in September will also host the Asian Games.

Last season, China had no men ranked in the top 25 in the world in the 50 fly. Their only entry at the World Championships was 22-year-old Sun Jiajun, who finished 32nd in 23.83 in his only race of the meet.

That 50 fly focus was reflected in the way he split his 100. While not a “swim for a split” effort, his 26.05 was faster than most of the other swimmers who finished in the 56-second range.

In the first act of his career, Wu was primarily a 200 butterflier. He won a silver medal in that event at the 2007 World Championships, plus bronze medals in 2005, 2011, and 2013. He was the World Champion in short course in 2006 and the Asian Games Champion in 2002 in the 200 back, 200 fly, and 400 IM, and in the 200 fly again in 2006.