A deep pool of talent

With in-form youngsters and rejuvenated veterans, China's swimmers are on course for a wave of Olympic medals

Led by a butterfly queen in red-hot form and the newly crowned breaststroke king, Chinese swimmers have capped their Asiad outing with a huge confidence booster for the upcoming Olympic campaign next year.

With youngsters in their prime and revitalized veterans dominating the pool, the Chinese swimming contingent finished the six-day program at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou with an all-time high of 28 gold medals among a best-ever total haul of 58 gongs at the continental sporting jamboree.

The solid performances of China's reigning world champions and some promising young talent, after a hectic period featuring three major meets over two months, have raised expectations for the squad to make a splash at next year's Paris Olympics.

Women's butterfly superstar Zhang Yufei and men's breaststroke specialist Qin Haiyang extended their success from the world championships in July to the Hangzhou meet, where Zhang overcame an illness to collect six golds to tie the individual title record at a single Asiad, while Qin repeated the historic breaststroke treble he claimed at the worlds in Fukuoka, Japan.

They were among many Team China swimmers who competed at the World University Games in Chengdu, which were sandwiched between the worlds and the Asiad.

"The intensity of competing on the international stage as frequently as we did this year was exceptionally high, requiring a lot of hard work, discipline and sacrifice to pull it off, which I think we did," Qin said on Friday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatics Sports Arena, after winning the men's 50m in 26.35 seconds.

The 24-year-old from Hunan province made himself a household name at the worlds in July when he became the first man in history to sweep all three breaststroke titles — 50m, 100m and 200m — in Fukuoka, while shattering Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook's former 200 world record with a blistering surge of 2:05.48.

Joining Qin in lighting up the Hangzhou pool was women's reigning Olympic champion Zhang, who collected all three butterfly titles, a gold in 50m freestyle and two relay wins to equal Japanese swimmer Ikee Rikako's six-gold haul at the 2018 Asiad in Indonesia.

Zhang achieved her medal tally despite an illness that took a heavy toll on her strength. The defending 200m fly Olympic champion couldn't even talk, due to a sore throat after she overcame fatigue and a fever on Thursday night to bring home gold in the 50m free final.

Having withstood tough tests at three major meets in a row, Zhang, a fan favorite, said she could look forward to Paris 2024 with tons of confidence.

"Every race I swam this year, I did so preparing for Paris. I try to swim as many events as possible at every meet to improve my consistency and endurance so that I can step up a gear when needed in Paris," said the 25-year-old Jiangsu native.

To the excitement of diehard swimming fans, the return of celebrated veterans, such as former women's medley star Ye Shiwen and men's backstroke specialist Xu Jiayu, to the international spotlight has enhanced Team China's medal credentials for Paris 2024.

Ye, who shot to fame at the 2012 London Olympics by winning both individual medley golds (200m and 400m) at just 16, won her first Asiad gold in nine years, clinching the 200m breaststroke title on Thursday. Ye said she's set for a career rejuvenation at the age of 27.

"Despite winning gold, the result did not live up to my expectations to be honest, so I don't think I have reached my peak yet," the Hangzhou native said.

Chinese swimmers rewrote Asiad records in 17 events in Hangzhou and collectively broke Asian records in six events — Tang Qianting in women's 50m breaststroke (29.92), Pan Zhanle in men's 100m free (46.97), Wang Shun in men's 200m individual medley (1:54.62) and three other relay events.

"I think Chinese swimming has completed the transition from the last generation of champions to the younger and stronger group of world-class swimmers," said breaststroke legend Luo Xuejuan, a bid ambassador for the Hangzhou Asiad.

"We have experienced swimmers remaining competitive and stars like Zhang and Qin in their prime. We have every reason to expect more champions to be crowned at Paris 2024,"said Luo, who won the women's 100m breaststroke at the 2004 Olympics.