Yan's tribute T-shirt inspires

Talent and training helped Yan Zibei set a breaststroke record at the ongoing national championships here-but his gold medal effort was at least partially inspired by pop idol Hua Chenyu.

On Tuesday, the 23-year-old Yan clocked 26.96 seconds to set the national mark in the semifinal of the 50m breaststroke, just 0.02 seconds slower than the Asian record. He matched that time in Wednesday's final to claim the gold.

Yan's accomplishment became one of the hottest topics on Chinese social media, thanks in part to the Hua Chenyu T-shirt he donned ahead of the final.

The unexpected tribute intrigued and connected two totally different fan communities, particularly followers of the 29-year-old pop star. As of Wednesday night, related topics had been viewed over 57 million times on Weibo.

"I'm a little flustered after realizing I became a hot topic on social media," said Yan, who also won gold at last year's Asian Games in Jakarta. "The reason why I wore that shirt is because of the motivation of Hua Chenyu, who is my idol.

"I have known him for a long time and we both are from Hubei province. In recent years, he has been just incredible."

Hua rose to fame after winning the 2013 Super Boy singing contest. He is well known for his powerful vocals, dramatic stage performances and songwriting talent and is often hailed as one of the most influential young performers in China.

Yan also credited solid winter training for his record performance.

"The Tuesday and Wednesday races were similar. There's nothing much to say about the 50m race. I just went full speed. The result was unexpected, but the solid winter training definitely helped," he said.

Yan was not satisfied with his long-distance performance, even though he won the 100m breaststroke gold in 59.52 seconds on Monday after clocking 58.96 in the seminal. He will compete in the 200m breaststroke on Friday.

Yan's coach, Zheng Shan, said she hopes her protege continues to improve.

"Yan has a better understanding toward different tactics than other swimmers," said Zheng. "He is smart. He studies others, but there's still room for him to grow. He has to improve his starts and turns.

"We are setting our goals for July's World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, and also next year's Tokyo Olympics, so I hope he continues to stretch his limits."