2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup – Incheon
- Friday, October 24th – Sunday, October 26th
- Shanghai, China
- Prelims at 9:30am local (8:30pm ET previous night)/Finals at 6:30pm local (6:30am ET)
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- Event Schedule
- Entries Book
- Live Results
The men’s 400 free field on Thursday evening in Incheon Korea was loaded with middle-distance talent. The home nation South Korea is experiencing a bit of a moment in the middle distance events and were represented by Kim Woomin, Lee Hojoon, and Kim Junwoo. Besides that, Kregor Zirk of Estonia, Duncan Scott of the UK, Kieran Smith of the USA, and Danas Rapsys of Lithuania, the lineup in the race could have made up most of an Olympic final.
And yet it was a “sprinter,” China’s Pan Zhanle, who blew past the field to win in 3:36.43.
Pan has mostly become famous for his abilities in the 100 meter freestyle, which included an Olympic gold medal and a World Record time of 46.40, knocking four-tenths off the World Record that he set in February at the World Championships.
But for the 20-year-old Pan, stretching to the longer distance might not be as odd as it seems.
For one, Pan is an international-caliber 200 freestyle. In the 2022-2023 season, he was 4th in the world in that event in long course in 1:44.65. He was also the Asian Games silver medalist in the 400 free in 2022 in long course, though his 3:48.81 to finish four-and-a-half seconds behind Kim Woo-min didn’t really turn too many heads.
Digging back into Pan’s swimming history, though, gives a more complete picture.
As a younger swimmer, he was primarily distance-focused, swimming the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles at the Chinese National Championships in 2019 when he first caught attention at only 14-years old.
He won the 1500 free at that meet in 15:33.48. At the time, that would have been the second-best effort in history among Americans ever, only two seconds behind the legendary U.S. 13-14 National Age Group Record of Jesse Vassallo.
He also swam 4:02.17 in the 400 free and 8:10.57 in the 800 free at the same meet.
The shift was pretty sudden, though. By the time he was next mentioned on SwimSwam in May 2021, he was 2nd at the Chinese Championships in the 100 meter free, and he hasn’t done much of the 1500 in the years since. At the same meet in May 2021 when his sprinting began to shine through, he went 15:59 in the 1500 – about 26 seconds slower than he had been two years earlier.
According to Chinese media, Pan really only began developing his sprinting abilities during the pandemic, and last year, his coach said they were training for everything from the 50 to the 1500, even trying the 10 km open water event in 2021.
Pan’s 400 short course meters free time is still four seconds shy of the World Record in the event, and about a second shy of what it took to medal at SC Worlds in 2022, so it’s not necessarily time to anoint him as a contender in the race, but it does show that in spite of finishing just 22nd in the 200 free at the Olympics, before his World Record swim, Pan isn’t ready to fully let go of his dreams-of-distance quite yet.
Pan has serious range.
Unfortunately it’s still difficult to win all 3.
If he goes all out on the 800m and 400m, then he is not going to be at his prime for the 100m sprint.
If he focuses all his energy on the 100m sprint, he can’t afford to go hard on the 800m and 400m.
Still, he managed to win 400 and 800 and shows he is not just a sprinter. He has chance to break records in future for the 200 I bet.
For some people, specialization is key to afford a chance at being good in certain events (50,100,200) but some people are able to extend themselves to put down great performances in the longer events (4/500/800/1500/1650).
Its safe to say most swimmers will not be able to perform like Pan does, so we should celebrate his versatility, while also allowing ourselves to understand that some training just works better for some people for a variety of reasons.
Also wanted to include a comparison that I had a debate with friend on, Pan 100 and 400 versatility, or Dressel 100fr/fly/br and 200IM performances? What about Kate Douglass and all the events she swims/can possibly swim? Which is most impressive?
Do you also want a fishing hook to go with that bait ?
Brett Hawke blocked me on socials, but i’m sure he’s losing his mind
😂 I can picture his tantrum when pan won 400 and 800 now.
Pan Zhanle’s stroke is the most efficient among the current sprinters.
Pan is phenomenal.
Also, I was not expecting seeing Flynn Southam like a comment on the latest Social Kick instagram post, that accuses Pan of d*ping. 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
Jealousy is a cruel mistress.
Who is this guy even. Unheard of.
Mack Horton 2.0? Another loser from Down Under.
Mack is an Olympic gold medalist. Yang’s story is totally different to Pan.
Good catch.
GOAT Pan’s talents and performance simply is beyond understanding of many a commoner in swimming arena.
Paul is that you with the last 25m?
See not everyone’s a doper! Dudes just got an engine!
I don’t believe Pan is doping, but please explain how this specifically vilifies him
They’re sayin he’s not doping. Keep reading till you get it.
You can see his engine rev up in one video with a tight shot of his 400m swim. At the last 50 meters, his legs kick into high gear at around the 6:46 time mark in the video (starts slightly prior before his turn). Watch that water churn!
https://youtu.be/-dlTZccnU3E?feature=shared&t=367
At the 00:44 point of the video (which has English subtitles), Pan reveals he signed up for the 400 as training for aerobic fitness (just as Bobby Hurley suspected). He says his recent training has been lackluster, so it’s win-win for him.
As I said on the other thread, every swimming commentator from the Olympics needs to listen to Bobby Hurley’s call of this race. It was superb!
He did it solo too. A very close race with changes in the lead throughout and he was able to keep up and even picked Pan coming through.