Will Pan Zhanle Test Himself in 200 Freestyle at World Champs? Let’s Hope
We’ve seen what China’s Pan Zhanle can do in peak form. Remember last summer’s Olympic performance in the 100-meter freestyle? As a refresher, Pan delivered a dominant performance inside La Defense Arena in Paris, establishing a world record of 46.40 while claiming the gold medal by more than a second.
Through the years, he’s also flashed incredible range across the freestyle events. Sprint speed? Check. Middle-distance excellence? Yep. The 20-year-old has also flourished up to the 800 freestyle, where he’s been timed in 7:59.15. When it comes to freestyle versatility, Pan is an unquestioned superstar.
According to the entry lists recently released by World Aquatics, Pan is scheduled to race the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore later this month. But just because he is entered in multiple events, it doesn’t mean Pan will exert his full potential in the 200 distance. At the Paris Games, Pan exerted minimal energy en route to a time of 1:49.47 in the prelims of the 200 free, which left Pan 22nd of 25 swimmers.
With the next Olympiad three years away, this summer is a good time to experiment with programs, and test options for the future. In the case of Pan, let’s hope he might place enhanced emphasis on the 200 freestyle and push himself against some of the sport’s finest in that event. We’re already salivating over the impending showdown between Pan and Romania’s David Popovici in the 100 freestyle. Can we also watch them clash over four laps?
Pan heads into the World Championships with a career best of 1:44.65 in the 200 freestyle, posted at the 2023 Chinese Spring National Championships. There’s plenty of reason to believe Pan has more in his arsenal and can be a medal factor in the 200 freestyle at the global level. He obviously has the front-end speed. No one will argue that fact. And with his history in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle, Pan should have finishing ability. Sure, how Pan has trained for this summer will dictate what he’s capable of doing in the 200 freestyle. If nothing else, though, he possesses the talent to rank among the premier performers in the world.
To see him test that potential at the World Champs is a hope.
