Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
Chinese swimmers are competing at the national swimming champions races in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, over the weekend, with sprint swimmer Pan Zhanle stepping onto the top of the podium in the men's 400 meters freestyle with distance swimmer Sun Yang in third place.
The scene recalled a 2014 interview during which then 10-year-old Pan said his goal was to "swim faster than Sun Yang," a goal that he successfully achieved after a stellar 2024 in which he won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and set the men's 100 meters freestyle world record twice.
Though Pan's winning result of 3:45.34 in the race was still far from Sun's Asian record of 3:40.14, Saturday's 400m race marked the duo's first time competing against each other, making it a vivid illustration of a decades-long legacy of inheritance that has defined China's rise as a swimming powerhouse.
Along with Pan and Sun, 22-year-old Fei Liwei, who represented China at the Paris Olympics, finished in second place. The trio all hail from domestic swimming powerhouse Zhejiang Province.
Zhejiang's swimming prowess dates back to 2004, when female breaststroke specialist Luo Xuejuan stormed to Olympic gold in Athens, igniting a fire that has burned brightly for two decades. Since then, the province has produced six Olympic champions, who together have secured nine swimming gold medals at the Games.
What makes this run of successes truly remarkable is not just the tally of medals but the intentional cultivation of a generational relay. Veterans like Sun Yang, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and four-time Olympians Wang Shun and Xu Jiayu have served as living monuments for younger athletes. Their presence in the pool, even as they transition to the later stages of their careers, provides a tangible link to the past, allowing rookies to see firsthand what it means to embody resilience and sportsmanship.
Sun, who served a four-year ban due to anti-doping rule violations that also barred him from making the national team, is still trying to prove that he is among the world's elite swimmers. After finishing third in that 400m free final, Sun's reaction spoke volumes about continuity.
"It's a good thing that veterans and new talents compete together," he said.
"This is how the legacy of Chinese swimming can be better preserved." His words encapsulate a philosophy in which competition is not just about winning races but about nurturing a culture among which each generation builds on the foundation laid by those who came before.
Pan and Fei, among other young Chinese swimmers, are the latest bearers of this mind-set. They grew up watching Sun making swimming history, and now they are writing their own chapters, driven by the knowledge that they are part of an unbroken chain of champions.
The coaching fraternity in Zhejiang embodies the same spirit of inheritance. Veteran mentors like Zhu Zhigen, whose career spans decades and includes nurturing legends like Sun and Wang, have built systems based on meticulous discipline and deep technical expertise. But rather than clinging to outdated methods, they have actively groomed a new generation of coaches.
Zheng Kunliang and Cai Li, former athletes who competed on the international stage, have transitioned into coaching roles, bringing fresh perspectives while maintaining the core values instilled by their predecessors. Even Li Zhuhao, a former swimmer that represented China in the Olympics, has joined the Zhejiang coaching staff, creating a seamless bridge between playing careers and mentorship. This "pass-the-torch" model ensures that institutional knowledge has not been lost but instead has evolved, blending experience with innovation.
The swimming talent development is not a fluke but the result of a meticulously constructed pyramid of talent development. At the base lie grassroots sports schools in cities like Hangzhou and Wenzhou, where children as young as 6 are introduced to swimming, basketball, badminton, and other disciplines. These schools act as talent pipelines, identifying promising athletes and guiding them through a "one-stop" system that progresses from local clubs to provincial teams and eventually to national squads.
This infrastructure extends beyond swimming.
The Zhejiang Lions basketball team, for instance, reached the CBA finals for the third time thanks to a youth development program that has produced national team stars like Sun Minghui and Hu Jinqiu. The philosophy here is identical to swimming: invest early, provide structured training, and foster a culture in which athletes see a clear path from childhood passion to professional excellence.
In badminton, former world champions like Xia Xuanze and Wang Lin have followed the same trajectory as their swimming counterparts, transitioning from playing to coaching and ensuring that their technical mastery and strategic acumen are passed down.
Another critical component of Zhejiang's strategy is its embrace of international competition as a catalyst for growth. Hosting major events like the Hangzhou Asian Games, ATP Tour events in Hangzhou and Ningbo, and the Volleyball Nations League has transformed the province into a hub of sporting excellence. These events are not just spectacles but places where domestic athletes can test themselves against global elites, absorb new techniques, and develop the mental toughness required for top-level competition.
The example of Zhejiang making headlines in sports shows that when a society invests in its youth, honors its traditions, and opens its doors to the world, it can create a sporting ecosystem in which excellence is not a coincidence but an inevitability. As the torch continues to be passed from one generation to the next, China's sporting legacy is not just preserved but elevated, ensuring that the nation's presence in global sports will be felt for decades to come.
