19TH ASIAN GAMES
- Sunday, September 24th – Friday, September 29th (swimming)
- Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena, Hangzhou, China
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entries
- Results
The 19th Asian Games kicked off today from Hangzhou, China and the host nation athletes brought their A-game.
If there was any doubt if swimmers were able to double taper for the World Championships and this prestigious event, those doubts were thrown out the window as we saw multiple national and Asian Records bite the dust just on day one.
China’s 19-year-old Pan Zhanle fired off one of the fastest 100m freestyle times in history, stopping the clock in a massive 46.97 to take the gold.
Pan opened in 22.45 to his feet and closed in 24.52 to produce his first-ever outing under the 47-second barrier, shredding his previous personal best of 47.22 to bits to establish a new national and Asian Record.
Settling for silver in the race was teammate Haoyu Wang who touched in 48.02 while Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo rounded out the top 3 in 48.04.
As for Pan, his 46.97 makes the teen just the 5th man in history to ever break the 47-second threshold, becoming the 5th swiftest performer in history.
Top 5 Men’s LCM 100 Freestyle Performers in History
- David Popovici (ROU) – 46.86, 2022
- Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 46.91, 2009
- Alan Bernard (FRA) – 46.94, 2009
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 46.96, 2019
- Pan Zhanle (CHN) – 46.97, 2023
Pan competed in this event in Fukuoka this year but was rendered just to 4th place, although his time of 47.43 was his 2nd-best performance.
Below is a comparison of his top 3 performances.
| Pan Zhanle‘/s 46.97 | Pan Zhanle‘s 47.22 | Pan Zhanle‘s 47.42 |
| 22.45 | 22.96 | 23.04 |
| 24.52 | 24.26 | 24.39 |
The textile 46 club is a very special club in my books
I think that club shares some similarities to the 100m track final in 1988, can’t quite put my finger on what it is though… hmmm
3rd best in textile, go China!
https://swimswam.com/swimswams-top-100-for-2023-mens-75-51/#comment-1147771
This is a remarkable result. Just a month older than Popovici, and nearly as fast. You never know who will be the next generational swimmer until it happens (and we still don’t know).
Wang Shun’s 200 IM was to me even more surprising; I though he was done, not about to go faster than Marchand!
One remarkable aspect of Pan’s swim: Kyle Chalmers is now the fourth-fastest active 100 freestyler. Three different swimmers have led the world in 2021, 2022, and 2023, none of whom is Chalmers. Yet Chalmers was the world champ this year, and if not for injury almost certainly would have won last year too. I can’t think of another events that’s quite like this right now.
If China lets him then Pan has a shot for the WR via a relay leadoff
Might take 46 to podium in Tokyo
*Paris
He’s been saying all year that Asian Games was his priority. There’s the first beautiful result.
I agree with others that he could break WR this week; he’s in that form. He jumped on that first 25 just a touch too much…if he eases off just a bit, that WR could go down.
Only 19 years old!