Pan Zhanle

Pan Zhanle

Pan at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Personal information
National team	China
Born	(2004-08-04) 4 August 2004 (age 20) Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
Height	190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Zhejiang Province Swim Team
Medal record Men's swimming Representing  China Olympic Games 2024 Paris 100 m freestyle 2024 Paris 4×100 m medley 2024 Paris 4×100 m mixed medley World Championships (LC) 2024 Doha 100 m freestyle 2024 Doha 4×100 m freestyle 2024 Doha 4×200 m freestyle 2024 Doha 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou 100 m freestyle 2022 Hangzhou 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 2022 Hangzhou 4 × 100 m medley relay 2022 Hangzhou 200 m freestyle 2022 Hangzhou 400 m freestyle 2022 Hangzhou 4 × 200 m freestyle relay 2022 Hangzhou 50 m freestyle

Pan Zhanle (Chinese: 潘展乐, born 4 August 2004) is a Chinese freestyle swimmer, Olympic champion, and current world record holder of the 100 metre freestyle event. In 2023, Pan became the first swimmer in history to have all three achievements of reaching sub-22 seconds in the 50 metre freestyle, sub-47 seconds in the 100 metre freestyle, and sub-1:45 in the 200 metre freestyle. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, he won gold in the 100 metre freestyle, breaking his own world record in the process.

In 2019 at 15 years old, Pan made his first major competition debut at the 2019 Chinese Summer LC Swimming Championships. He competed in the 1500 metre freestyle, winning with a time of 15:33.48.^[1]

At the 2020 Chinese Olympic Team Trials, Pan placed second in the finals of the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 48.74 seconds, finishing just 0.03 seconds behind He Junyi. He also competed in the 200 and 400 metre freestyle events.^[1]

In 2021, Pan competed at the Chinese Summer Nationals and National Games of China. In both competitions, he competed in the 50, 100, and 400 metre freestyle events. At the National Games, he finished third in the 100 metre freestyle with a personal best time of 48.59 seconds.^[1]

At the age of 17, Pan made his international debut at the 2021 FINA SC World Championships. He swam in the 200, 400, and 800 metre freestyle relay events, helping China place fifth in all three events. Individually, Pan finished eleventh in the semifinals of the 100 metre freestyle.^[1]

The following year, Pan finished tied sixth in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2022 FINA SC World Championships in Melbourne. With a time of 45.77 seconds, he became the Asian record holder in this short course event.^[1]

In May 2023, Pan competed in the 100 metre long course freestyle at the Chinese National Championships, breaking the Asian record with a time of 47.22 seconds, which was 0.34 seconds faster than the previous record.^[2]

Pan first broke the 47-second barrier for the long course 100m freestyle at the 2022 Asian Games (held in 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), where he finished with a time of 46.97 seconds, becoming the fifth man in history to achieve this milestone.^[3] During the games, he also became the first swimmer in history to have all three achievements of reaching sub-22 seconds in the 50 metre freestyle, sub-47 seconds in the 100 metre freestyle, and sub-1:45 in the 200 metre freestyle.^[4]

On 16 February 2024, Pan won the 100 metre freestyle at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. A few days prior, he set a new 100 metre freestyle world record with a time of 46.80.^[5]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Pan won gold in the 100 metre freestyle. With a time of 46.40 seconds, he broke his own world record in the process. His margin of victory, 1.08 seconds, was the largest in this event since the 1928 Olympics, and his 0.40-second improvement on the world record was the biggest leap since 1976.^[6] In the men’s 4x100 meters medley final, Pan's performance helped the Chinese team win the gold medal, delivering the first defeat to the United States in this event since it was included in the Olympic program at the 1960 Olympics.^[7] As the anchor leg, he entered the water with his team in third place but overtook the swimmers from the United States and France in the final 100 meters, finishing with the fastest split in history in the men’s 100 m freestyle, clocking a 45.92, and securing the winning time of 3:27.46; beating the previous world's fastest split-time set by Jason Lezak's 46.06 anchor leg swim in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which Lezak and team made use of the high-tech swimwear.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

According to a Weibo post from Pan on February 29, 2024, his height is currently 189.5 cm, and his arm span is 190.5 cm.^[12]

As of July 27, 2023^[13]

Key: NR = National Record ; AS = Asian Record

Key: NR = National Record ; AS = Asian Record ; WJ = World Junior Record; WR = World Record ; h = heats; sf = semifinal ; r = Relay

• Pan Zhanle at World Aquatics
• Pan Zhanle at SwimRankings.net
• 潘展乐 at Weibo
• Pan Zhanle at instagram

Records
Preceded by David Popovici	Men's 100-metre freestyle world record-holder (long course) 11 February 2024 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ning Zetao	Men's 100-metre freestyle Asian record-holder (long course) 27 July 2023 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent