Chinese swimming star Sun Yang Sunday broke Grant Hackett’s iconic 10-year 1500m freestyle world record — then declared he could swim even faster at next year’s London Olympics. Sun, widely tipped before the world championships to challenge Hackett’s time of 14min 34.56sec set in 2001, was more than two seconds off record pace with just 100m to go but found an extra gear to shave 0.42sec off the mark.
The 19-year-old, who also won the 800m freestyle gold and 400m freestyle silver at the Shanghai world championships, said his soaring success was down to good training and a strong mind, predicting even better to come. “During my next training I will go to Australia for two or three months to get prepared for the Olympic Games in London. I think then I will achieve better results,” he said. Sun said he had not been confident of beating the Australian Hackett’s world record, set in 2001 at the Fukuoka world championships, before the race started.
“I was not obsessed with the world record before the final, because I wanted to focus on my plan — my goal was to win the gold,” he said. “I’m so grateful to the whole Chinese team, including my coach and my parents as well, and I think the world record belongs to all of them.” But he acknowledged that his record-breaking performance would heap pressure on his shoulders as his reputation soars.
“No doubt there will be more pressure on me. I don’t want the burden of gigantic pressure so next year I will keep a relaxed mindset for future races,” he said.
The likes of hurdler Liu Xiang and basketball star Yao Ming have attained superstar status in the country of 1.3 billion people hungry for sporting megastars. But Sun said so far he had avoided commercial commitments, preferring instead to focus on his swimming. Sun, who took bronze in the 1500m at the 2009 Rome worlds, nearly broke Hackett’s record at last year’s Asian Games in China’s southern Guangzhou, missing out by less than a second, heightening expectations for Shanghai. But despite his success he said there was still room for improvement.
“During the world championships my mental state was not stable and there are some regrets,” he said. “But after the 400m race I adjusted my mental state so I’m very satisfied with my current results.” Hackett had said that he expected Sun, who is coached by the Australian’s former mentor Denis Cotterell, to break his long-standing mark. Australian veteran Geoff Huegill, a team-mate of Hackett’s, described it as one of the best swims he had ever seen, particularly as Sun had so much ground to make up at the end of his race.
“To see Sun come out tonight, I guessed he toyed with it, that 14:34.00 mark, it was no doubt an encouraging swim. I think he’s got an extremely bright future ahead of him,” Huegill said. “He’s learning all the tricks of the trade. He’s got the skills. I think Denis is the oldest teenager running around on pool deck.
