China's Sun Yang celebrates after winning the final of the men's 1,500m freestyle event at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai on Sunday. Sun won the gold medal in world record time, clocking 14 min 34.14 sec. Mark Ralston / Agence France-Presse

China's rising star wraps up the Shanghai event in perfect style in the 1,500m

SHANGHAI - With a solid new world record, young Chinese swimmer Sun Yang provided home fans with the perfect finale at the 14th FINA World Championships on Sunday night.

In winning the gold medal in the men's 1,500m freestyle, the 19-year-old Sun clocked 14 min 34.14 sec to break the longest-standing world record in swimming - Australian Grant Hackett's 10-year-old mark.

It was only the second world record to fall in swimming since high-tech bodysuits were banned 19 months ago - and Hackett's record of 14:34.56, which was set at Fukuoka, Japan, in 2001, had been the only mark to withstand the deluge of records during the polyurethane era of 2008 and 2009.

US all-arounder Ryan Lochte set the first world record in the 50m-pool since the return to textile suits at the Shanghai meet on Tuesday in the 200m individual medley.

"Breaking the world record was not my goal today, since my coach just told me to take the gold medal, but not set a new world record," Sun said after the race.

"Setting a new record was not out of my expectations, but I just wasn't desperate to do it."

Sun was more than 2 sec off Hackett's 2001 pace with four laps to go, but accelerated in the final two laps to improve on Hackett's mark by just over 0.4 sec.

Canadian Ryan Cochrane was second in 14:44.46 and Gergo Kis, of Hungary, took bronze in 14:45.66.

Sun had already come close to Hackett's mark when he won at the Asian Games last November in Guangzhou in 14:35.43.

"I just followed my own beat in the race," Sun said. "The 1,500m is a very long distance, and nobody knows what will happen on the way to the finishing line. I didn't think too much before the race."

This was Sun's second gold medal at the Shanghai worlds. He won the men's 800m freestyle after taking silver in the 400m freestyle behind South Korea's Park Tae-hwan.

He also added a bronze as a member of China's 4x200m freestyle relay team.

Missing the gold medal at the 400m race on the opening day of the swimming event spurred on the rising star for subsequent success.

"During the 400m race on the first day, I was not as experienced as Park, since I'm still immature psychologically," Sun said. "I still have to improve my mental strength."

With China's first male swimming world champion, Zhang Lin, not in good form recently, Sun has emerged as the new leader of the team.

With the glory he gained at the Shanghai worlds, he is sure to be chased by fans and the media. But the Zhejiang-born swimmer, who was left in tears many times at the Guangzhou Asian Games, said he has grown up and learnt how to cope with the pressure.

"After the Asian Games, I matured a lot. I knew I couldn't be like a child and weep whether I won the gold medal or not," said Sun, who celebrated his victory on Sunday calmly.

"At present, more people will pay attention to me, but I'm still young and I won't put so much pressure on my shoulders. After the worlds, I won't have to adjust, but just keep training. I want people to see me maintain such form.

"I will go for training in Australia later and start to prepare for the London 2012 Olympics. I hope I will be in better form by then."

China Daily

(China Daily 08/01/2011 page24)