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Reverting to a normal swimsuit, China's men's swimming world champion Zhang Lin still won easily at the Asian Championships last week.
Back in the old-style suit and constantly honing his technique, 22-year-old Zhang is eyeing his first Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Games.
"I felt good swimming in such pants as I wore them in 2003 and 2004 before using the hi-tech ones," said Zhang after claiming gold in the men's 200m freestyle at the Asian Championships in Foshan, Guangzhou province.
"Going back to it is a new challenge (after swimming in hi-tech suits for years) but my feeling is good right now."
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Improving his technique is another.
"I always want to learn something new and learn advanced skills from others," Zhang said. "I think it's worth changing techniques if the new ones improve my results. I'm trying to work on new skills in starting and turning."
Zhang won the 800m freestyle at the World Championships in Rome in July; becoming the first Chinese male swimmer to win a World Championships title. After grabbing a silver in the 400m freestyle at the Beijing Games last year, stepping on to the highest podium at the Olympics is his only goal right now.
To achieve this, Zhang, who used to train in Australia with renowned coach Dennis Cotterell, said he is planning to train in the US next year.
"I've learned a lot from Dennis and improved immensely in recent years. The most important thing is that I've become more confident after training with foreign swimmers," he said.
"I wish to change my training base next year and move somewhere in the US because I think it will make me even more enthusiastic US swimming is No 1 in the world," said the Beijing native.
However, Zhang may have problems finding a world-class coach in the US.
"As far as we know, most of the best American coaches work in universities and it's impossible for me to apply to study at a university in such a short time," said Zhang. "I need to find a famous coach who works with a local club which can accept foreign swimmers."
