China's 'flying fish' delivers a breathless performance

Guo Jincheng cuts a striking figure in the pool. Swimming without arms, each time he finishes a race, he makes contact with the wall in the most extraordinary way — using his head to strike the timing board.

It's a procedure that has left many viewers watching on their TVs or phones visibly shocked.

"There's a cushion in the middle of the timing board. When you hit it, it pushes you back slightly. You feel it, but it's not really painful," Guo said, offering a calming explanation for something that to onlookers might seem jarring.

The 23-year-old Guo has someone take a razor to his head before every race, aiming to shave fractions off his time by reducing his drag in the water. It obviously works. His Paralympic debut in Paris was nothing short of remarkable. The swimmer, often referred to as a "flying fish" — his swimming motion resembles that of a dolphin — surpassed his own limits, shattering four world records and walking away with four gold medals and two silvers.

His coach, Liu Zhenzhai, said Guo's Paralympic performance mirrored the best of his training. These results, Liu added, are the hard-won fruits of Guo's relentless discipline, forged through years of intense daily practice.

At six, Guo lost both arms in a freak electrocution accident. By 12, he had been recruited to the Hebei provincial para swimming team. "I liked it right away," he said. "I tend to feel hot and sweat a lot, so I loved the cool, refreshing feeling of being in the water."

Without arms, Guo's early training involved gripping a kickboard with his chin, while core strength became crucial for maintaining balance underwater. His rigorous training sessions sometimes push him to swim more than 10,000 meters a day.

By 17, Guo had begun making a name for himself, earning three silvers and a bronze at the national para swimming championships in 2018. A year later, he followed up with two silvers and a bronze at the national para games.

Guo's main event is the 50m freestyle, a formidable challenge for any S5-class para athlete. For years, breaking the 30-second barrier seemed nearly impossible, but for Guo, it was an obsession.

"I always saw it as my goal," he said. "But, in 2021, I had almost given up. Sometimes, I didn't even want to get in the water. I'd stand there on the deck for what felt like forever, trying to convince myself to dive in."

Determined to break through, Guo began analyzing videos of top swimmers, studying their legwork. He noticed that some athletes breathed frequently, while others swam more steadily by limiting their breaths. Guo knew he was in the latter group. He began focusing on holding his breath for longer.

"I timed myself, forcing myself to hold it a little longer each time — waiting until I felt like I was going to pass out before taking a breath," he recalled.

Over time, he went from holding his breath for one minute to almost two, but that wasn't enough. High-intensity races needed more endurance, so he pushed himself to swim the 50m with just one breath.

In August 2023, at the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, England, his perseverance paid off. Guo won four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. In the S5 50m freestyle final, he shattered the 30-second barrier for the first time, finishing in 29.78 seconds and setting a new world record.

"That race gave me a lot of confidence," he said. "For an athlete, a lack of confidence leads to hesitation. I used to get nervous when I saw someone faster, but after beating them once, that feeling disappeared."

In Paris, Guo pushed even further, winning the men's 50m freestyle S5 final with a time of 29.33 seconds, setting another world record. Standing alongside two Team China compatriots, he proudly watched as three Chinese flags were raised at the Paris La Defense Arena.

"Competition is like life," he said. "Victories and defeats happen in a moment, but only by pushing yourself can you achieve something great."