Video Analysis: How Pan Zhanle Shattered World Record in the 100 Freestyle (Athletes Only Podcast)
At the Olympic Games in Paris, only two individual world records were set. While American Bobby Finke established a global standard in the 1500-meter freestyle on the final night of competition, China’s Pan Zhanle produced a stunning world mark in the 100 freestyle. By clocking 46.40, Pan shaved nearly a half-second off his previous record and won the gold medal at La Defense Arena by more than a second over silver medalist Kyle Chalmers, the 2016 Olympic champ in the event.
In his latest episode on the Athletes Only Podcast, host Kyle Millis produced an in-depth analysis of Pan’s world-record performance. Millis broke down the record swim through four categories: Starts and turns; underwaters; stroke; X-factor. In each of these areas, Millis looks at the way Pan, just 20 years old, moved through his two laps en route to one of the top swims at the Olympic Games. At one point, Millis analyzes how Pan, in comparison to the opposition, spends more time swimming freestyle, as opposed to remaining underwater.
Click on the video below to hear the analysis of Millis, who makes strong comparisons between Pan’s approach to the 100 freestyle and that of 2012 Olympic champion Nathan Adrian.
