After breaking the Asian record in the 100m backstroke at recent Olympic trials, 17-year-old Zhao Jing has raised China's hopes of medaling in the sport at the Beijing Games.
The backstroke specialist from central China's Hubei province beat the previous record of 1 minute, 0.16 seconds set by fellow Chinese He Cihong 14 years ago with a new time of 59.81.
"I had planned to break the 1-minute mark but I never expected to break the Asian record," Zhao said after winning an event in Shaoxing last Friday.
Despite its swimmers grabbing one gold and one silver medal at the 2004 Athens Games, China is not expected to beat America and Australia for any crowns in the pool this summer, but Zhao represents a new ray of hope.
"Zhao is very promising and she is carrying our hopes, but we still lag far behind the world powerhouses in the sport," China's swimming head coach Zhang Yadong said after the Olympic trials.
"I have to say no Chinese swimmer is really shaping up to be a title contender at the Beijing Games," said Zhang, the former coach of Athens Olympic champion Luo Xuejuan. Luo retired after winning her 100m breaststroke title due to health problems.
Zhao posted only the 10th sub 1-minute time ever recorded, and the joint sixth-fastest time along with American Hayley McGregory. It was also only 0.6 seconds shy of the world record of 59.21 set by Natalie Coughlin, also of the United States, at the Missouri Grand Prix on February 17 this year.
With the 200m backstroke title also under her belt, Zhao cruised into the 100m final as the top finisher in the morning preliminaries in Shaoxing in a time of 1:00.76.
In order to get accustomed to the Beijing Olympic swimming competition schedule, which switches the finals to the mornings to ensure a better TV audience in North America, Chinese swimmers are trying to shift their best performances from the end to the start of the day.
"It was difficult to get myself excited before the race. I was very nervous," said Zhao. "I just kept telling myself not to think too much about it and just go all out."
She said she still has work to do.
"With further polishing work on my technique, I hope I can get a medal in both the 100m and 200m backstroke at the Beijing Games," she said.
Zhao showed her talent at a young age by seizing the national championship crown in the 200m backstroke in 2005 at age 14.
She then edged into the finals of the 2005 World Championships and finished eighth. One year later at the Doha Asian Games, she grabbed two golds in the 4x100m medley relay and the 50m.
Last year, she set a new personal best at the worlds by finishing fourth in the 50m.
