National Games: Zhang, 18, upstages Pan Zhanle, Sun Yang – but Pan wins relay gold

The National Games’ swimming events began in Shenzhen on Monday with a highly anticipated clash of generations between Pan Zhanle and Sun Yang – but both were put in the shade by a rising star.

Pan and Sun, two of China’s most talked-about swimmers of recent years, earned places in men’s 400 metres freestyle final, but neither mounted a challenge for the podium and it was 18-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo who took gold, in record-breaking fashion.

Zhang clocked three minutes and 42.82 seconds to smash his own world junior record, set just two months ago. The Shandong native finished nearly five seconds ahead of Hubei’s Xu Haibo in second, with Zhejiang’s Fei Liwei claiming bronze.

Pan is the world record-holder in the 100m freestyle, in which he was world and Olympic champion last year, but he managed only fifth place here in 3:48.93, over a less favoured distance for him.

Sun, an Olympic and four-time world champion in the 400m before he was banned for four years and three months in 2020 for a doping violation, came sixth in 3:49.53. The 33-year-old, whose 2012 Olympic-winning time of 3:40.14 remains the national and Asian record, was returning to the National Games following the end of his ban last summer.

Pan may have been conserving energy, because an hour and a half later he was anchoring the Zhejiang quartet in the men’s 4x100m freestyle final. He duly led them to gold, moments after Shandong triumphed in the women’s version. Earlier, Li Bingjie won women’s 400m freestyle gold for Hebei.