"We would punish other kids by pushing them back into the water to swim more, while we actually had to stop him from swimming as a punishment once he made mistakes," Wang recalled.

Already displaying world-class technique in his starts, turns and finishes, Pan still has room to improve in areas such as strength conditioning and power in order to become a more consistent sprinter, reckons his national-team coach, Zheng Kunliang.

Pan's second sub-47 race in Doha, following his 46.97 triumph at last year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, which made him just the third swimmer in history to crack the 47-second mark in a textile suit, has proved he's on the right path to unleash his full speed, Zheng added.

For most observers, Pan's Doha campaign was unexpected, even feeling like it came out of nowhere. However, for those who have followed his progress since his worlds debut in 2022 in Budapest, this was definitely no flash in the pan — it just happened ahead of schedule.

"I still have to work harder in the lead-up to Paris 2024 and produce my best swim against the world's best at the Olympics," said Pan.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn