Swimming

China’s Pan Zhanle Breaks World Record With 46.80 During 4×100 Freestyle Relay Lead Off

Sports FEED

February 12, 2024

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 1 Finals Heat Sheet

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay Start List

Men’s 4×100 Free Relay Start List

MEN’S 4×100-METER FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

World Record: USA – 3:08.24
Championship Record: USA – 3:09.06
2023 World Champion: Australia – 3:10.16

Final:

China (Pan (WR), Ji, Zhang, Wang) — 3:11.08
Italy (Miressi, Zazzeri, Conte, Frigo) — 3:12.08
USA (King, Casas, Hobson, Foster) — 3:12.29
Great Britain — 3:12.59
Hungary — 3:13.66
Greece — 3:13.67
Serbia — 3:13.88
Spain — 3:14.83

Pan Zhanle of China set a new world record in the men’s 100 freestyle while leading off the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay on night 1 in Doha. Pan’s swim of a 46.80 broke David Popovici‘s record that stood at a 46.86 which Popovici swam in August 2022.

SPLIT COMPARISON:

	Zhanle	Popovici
First 50	22.26	22.74
Second 50	24.54	24.12
	46.8	46.86

Zhanle was out faster than Popovici at the 50 mark which makes sense considering Popovici’s second 50 was the 3rd fastest back-half split of the race at the time of his swim in 2022.

All-Time Top Performances, Men’s 100 Free:

Pan Zhanle, China – 46.80 (2024)
David Popovici, Romania — 46.86 (2022)
Cesar Cielo, Brazil — 46.91 (2009)
Alain Bernard, France — 46.94 (2009)

Zhanle helped lead China to a gold medal in the relay. This was the first time the Chinese men have ever medaled in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

Zhanle’s swim marked the first Chinese World Record in a men’s sprint event, in both LCM and SCM. Pan earns a $30,000 USD bonus for setting the World Record.

Zhanle notably was much slower this morning during his split as he split a 48.26 flying start on the anchor leg. Clearly, Pan kicked it into another gear in tonight’s final.

SwimSwam: China’s Pan Zhanle Breaks World Record With 46.80 During 4×100 Freestyle Relay Lead Off