Pan Zhanle Trying to Reclaim 100 Freestyle Dominance at Asian Games
Two years ago, Pan Zhanle was the envy of the sprinting world. Days before his 20th birthday, Pan unleashed in the Olympic final of the men’s 100 freestyle, dominating the field by more than a second and shattering the world record. Pan finished in 46.40, four tenths quicker than his own six-month-old world record.
Pan’s Olympics had gotten off to a miserable start, with China missing the podium in the men’s 400 free relay before Pan bottomed out of the 200 free prelims. A day before his world record, Pan tied for 13th in the 100 free prelims, leaving him hundredths away from elimination. Ironically, he would swim exactly two seconds quicker in his golden finals performance, and then he capped off his Games with a record-setting 45.92 relay split to lift China to gold in the men’s medley relay, handing the United States its first-ever loss in Olympic competition.
But when he sought to add a world title to his record in 2025, Pan fell flat. In an electric 100 free semifinal round that saw 13 men eclipse 48 seconds, Pan ended up 11th in 47.81, a full 1.41 seconds off his world record. That was not just one poor meet, since Pan never went faster than 47.77 all year. He did win a silver medal as part of China’s 800 free relay team, but that was his lone podium appearance. Anchoring the Chinese men’s medley relay in prelims, Pan recorded a mediocre split of 47.76 as the team ended up ninth.
Now comes his chance to rebound and perhaps reclaim his status atop the 100 freestyle standings. Pan will race this week in Tokyo at the Asian Games, where he will be among the most accomplished and famous swimmers in attendance. The 100 free will kick off his meet Sunday before he races the 200 free and highlights China’s relays later in the meet.
Safe to say that his worldwide rivals will be keeping one eye peeled on the times Pan can put forward in the coming days. Of course, those rivals have taken major steps forward since that Olympic race when Australian veteran Kyle Chalmers won silver in 47.48. Six swimmers went faster in the European Championships final alone, with three men going under 47.
David Popovici, the Romanian world-record holder before Pan, has reclaimed control of the event in the past two years. He won the 2025 world title in 46.51, the second-quickest mark in history and only 0.11 off the world record. He backed that up with a 46.56 winning effort at the European Championships, a race where Russia’s Egor Kornev clocked 46.74 for second and Hungary’s Kristof Milak went 46.87 for third.
Spain’s Luka Hoek, Croatia’s Jere Hribar and Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth also hit 47-low performances at the European Championships while Australia’s Flynn Southam topped out at 47.09 at the Commonwealth Games. At the Pan Pacific Championships, Jack Alexy of the United States won gold in 47.14 while countryman Chris Guiliano went 47.16 in the B-final. Alexy is another member of the sub-47 club, having posted an American record of 46.81 at last year’s Worlds before blasting a 45.95 relay split that is the second-quickest in history, behind Pan’s Paris mark by only three hundredths.
Pan will not face much tough competition at the Asian Games, with South Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo the only other man from the continent who even advanced to the semifinal round at the 2025 Worlds. But more will be at stake as Pan, now 22, tries to lay down a time that signals his 2027 intentions to his rivals around the world.
