“I thought I could be dead last because he was so far ahead of me,” Kyle Chalmers confessed soon after the 100m freestyle final. Australian swimmers have been all the rage recently, especially with Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown snatching golds. However, the men’s side has had to settle for second place, especially because they had some solid rivals like Pan Zhanle.

The 19-year-old Chinese swimmer did not excel without controversy, though. Zhanle is under the scanner for doping after a huge group from his country was accused earlier this year. However, he can get a breather, even a prominent Aussie swimming legend backed him, hailing his jaw-dropping feat.

3x world champion swimmer marvels at Pan Zhanle’s antics

Kyle Chalmers is best known for his freestyle speed. At the Paris Olympics, he became the first man since the legendary Alex Popov to win a medal in three consecutive 100m freestyle finals. He clocked 47.48 seconds to add a silver to his Rio Gold and Tokyo silver medals. However, his competitor grabbed the spotlight due to his sheer speed. Pan Zhanle clocked an incredible 46.40 seconds, beating the entire field by more than a second and snatching the gold medal.

This record-breaking achievement prompted even swimming legend James Magnussen to marvel at Zhanle’s prowess. In an article in Couriermail, he wrote, “I thought a 47s could have gotten the job done but that is a historic swim. As I said, I didn’t think I would see a 46.40s in my lifetime. The way 100m freestyle has progressed in the last two years – Pan alone is half a second faster than anyone else in the world.” 

Pan Zhanle overcame some personal hurdles as well – he nearly didn’t make the semi-finals after a poor heat swim. He also sliced 0.40 seconds off his previous mark set at the World Championships in Doha in February with a stunning relay leadoff swim. So Magnussen could not emphasize his amazement enough. “He won that race by more than a second. That is unheard of in sprint swimming. And the crazy thing is Pan almost missed the semis with his heat swim. But yeah, Pan has blown me away.”

Another Australian legend, Ian Thorpe, also found his jaws dropped. “It’s insane. That world record, that swim is absolutely mind-blowing.” Both Magnussen and Thorpe heap praises on Pan Zhanle as the latter faces a long series of doping tests. Doubters may cast a shadow on his world record given the Chinese swimming team’s recent revelation, but Zhanle may be in the clear.

Zhanle earns the trust of his rival

As James Magnussen said, clocking 46 seconds is unheard of – which attracts haters to doubt Pan Zhanle’s achievement even more. Especially in light of the news in April that 23 of the country’s swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication in 2021, and still competed in Tokyo. Although the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted that the test results were due to contamination from a hotel kitchen, immense scrutiny afflicted the Paris team.

Yet Pan Zhanle confirmed that he underwent several tests, and never registered as positive. “Last year I received 29 tests and never had a positive,” he told reporters through a translator. “From May to July, I had 21 tests, no positive. Today we received a second test already. I don’t think there has been any impact (on me) because all the testing has been done in the normal procedure … So it’s not a big issue.” 

Even his silver medallist rival, Kyle Chalmers, added a brownie point on Zhanle’s behalf. “I do everything I possibly can to win the race and trust everyone’s doing the same as I am, staying true to the integrity of sport. I trust that … he (Pan) deserves that gold medal.”

Apparently, the Australian swimming greats are supporting Pan Zhanle’s extraordinary victory in Paris. We are pumped to watch Zhanle mark more such record-breaking milestones in his career.