World Aquatics Championships 2024: Pan Zhanle breaks men's 100m freestyle world record, leads People's Republic of China to relay gold

Swimming sensation Pan Zhanle re-wrote the record books on the first day of pool action at the World Aquatics Championships 2024 in Doha on Sunday (11 February) evening.

Leading off the men's 4x100m freestyle relay for People's Republic of China, the 19-year-old split a scarcely-believable 46.80 seconds, lowering David Popovici's previous mark of 46.86.

After that stunning start, the Chinese team never looked back, staying ahead of a loaded field throughout. After Pan, Ji Xinjie, Zhang Zhanshuo, and Wang Haoyu saw out the race, with Wang's 47.47 the fastest anchor split to seal victory in 3:11.08.

"Yeah, that was an incredible time. I trusted my friends and we did our best," Pan said in an interview poolside after the race.

Italy, represented by Alessandro Miressi, Lorenzo Zazzeri, Paolo Conte Bonin, and Manuel Frigo, took silver exactly a second behind China.

Bronze went to the USA quartet of Matt King, Shaine Casas, Luke Hobson, and Carson Foster, in 3:12.29.

After the race, Pan told media: "Actually, I wasn't feeling in great form. I would've been happy with just getting on the podium. This morning (in heats), the U.S., Great Britain and Italy were all quicker than us, and I just wanted to focus on doing my job well.

"I told myself, just swim hard. I was shocked when I saw the time, I wasn't expecting to break the record now – I wanted to leave it for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games."

Men's 4x100m freestyle relay final results at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, 11 February 2024

1. People's Republic of China (CHN) – 3:11.08 (WR at intermediate distance)
2. Italy (ITA) – 3:12.08
3. United States of America (USA) – 3:12.29
4. Great Britain (GBR) – 3:12.55
5. Hungary (HUN) – 3:13.66
6. Greece (GRE) – 3:13.67
7. Serbia (SRB) – 3:13.88
8. Spain (ESP) – 3:14.93