This year, Sun Yang hopes to change that. Zhang has not made the team; Sun has inherited his mantle and leads the world this year over the 400m and 1500m. In his other event, the 200m free, he is fifth-fastest. He is a relative unknown outside his sport, but undoubtedly a name to watch at London 2012 as a gauge for Chinese progress.
Since arriving at his team’s training camp, in Bath, Sun has been tight-lipped – refusing to speak to reporters who turned up last week. But before leaving China, he said:, external “I am feeling very good and very relaxed. I don’t think there is any pressure on me.
“I have no burden on my shoulders at all. I will be more than happy if I can get one gold because it means I have made a big breakthrough in my swimming career and for men’s swimming in China. I will keep my composure.”
China certainly believes Sun can go far at London 2012, fast-tracking Communist Party membership, external for him in the build-up to the Games, according to the Reuters news agency.
But he is not alone. China’s female swimmers did the bulk of the work in Beijing four years ago and, between them, contributed three gold medals to Sun Yang’s two at last year’s World Championships (again on home soil, in Shanghai).
Ye Shiwen won the women’s 200m medley world title at the age of 15, coming back to defeat defending champion Ariana Kukors, an American seven years her senior.