Pan Zhanle vs. David Popovici: 100 Freestyle Showdown Awaits
Together, these two 20-year-olds are responsible for the only record-breaking swims in the 100 freestyle since the supersuit era. Moreover, David Popovici and Pan Zhanle were the only men to break any world records in long course freestyle events for more than a decade until Bobby Finke (1500) and Lukas Martens (400) did so within the past year. And for the first time, we might get both of these swimmers at their peak in a head-to-head showdown in a World Championship final.
Back up to 2022, when Cesar Cielo still held the 100 free world record at 46.91. That mark survived numerous incursions over the years, most recently from Olympic champions Caeleb Dressel and Kyle Chalmers, but Popovici got the job done finally when he clocked 46.86 at the European Championships. Eighteen months later, Pan stole away the record with a time of 46.80 at the Doha World Championships, setting him up as favorite for Olympic gold.
In the Paris final, Pan produced an epic leap forward. He clocked 46.40 to obliterate the world record and secure gold by more than a second. The stunning nature of the performance combined with the timing, with a Chinese anti-doping controversy hovering over the Games, raised questions about the legitimacy of Pan’s swim. The men who joined him on the podium, Chalmers and Popovici, and 50 free silver medalist Ben Proud all came to Pan’s defense, and the young Chinese star continued to bolster his legacy as he clocked the fastest split in history to deliver gold for his country in the men’s 400 medley relay.
David Popovici — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Now, heading into the first major competition post-Paris, that world record does not feel so far out there, not after the latest performance from Popovici at the European U23 Championships. Popovici sliced 15-hundredths from his own European record and delivered the second-fastest time in history at 46.71, just three tenths back of Pan’s groundbreaking Olympic performance. While Pan has not yet needed to peak this year, he has not been within a second of that time, his best in 2025 sitting at a 47.77 achieved in May and leaving him 11th in the global standings less than a month out from the World Championships.
In their career-best performances, Pan and Popovici have distinguished themselves through masterful pacing, a balance generations of 100 freestylers could never strike. Dressel’s speed and power was the envy of sprinters worldwide while Chalmers is consistently magnificent on the way home. In the Olympic final, Chalmers earned silver on the strength of his second length, where his split of 24.45 was second-best in the field. The only man faster was Pan, who came back in 24.12 after going out in 22.28, also several tenths quicker than any rivals.
Popovici does not usually get out quite so quick: when he first broke the world record, he was out in 22.74 and back in 24.12, the fastest closing split in history until Pan matched it in Paris. But in his most recent continental-record-setting effort, Pan was 22.73 going out and back in 23.98, the first time ever a swimmer has covered the return lap under 24 seconds.
In comparison, the only other man to break 47 this year is American Jack Alexy, and his splits were 22.45/24.54 on the way to a time of 46.99. Alexy clocked that time in prelims at U.S. Nationals, and when he tried to repeat that effort in the final, he slowed slightly on the way home with a 24.74 split. When Brazil’s Gui Caribe blasted a 47.10, he was under world-record pace at the halfway point with a 22.23 split but back in 24.87. Among other leading swims from this year, Chalmers was back in 24.56 when he clocked 47.29 at Australian Trials, and Russia’s Egor Kornev came home in 24.80 when he swam his top time of 47.42.
Staying with the likes of Pan and Popovici during the front half of the 100 free is never the problem. But speed does not win in the 100 free like it used to during the era of polyurethane suits and when Dressel won two world titles and an Olympic gold from 2017 through 2021. Of the main contenders in the 100 free, only Alexy, Caribe and Maxime Grousset are also threats in the 50 free. Pan and Popovici don’t bother with the splash-and-dash, and the swimmers who won 50 free medals in Paris, Cameron McEvoy, Proud and Florent Manaudou, steer clear of the 100.
Reaching the podium at the Singapore World Championships could require a 46-second swim for the first time ever. That’s no certainty, not with plenty of 100 free championship finals devolving into pure racing with slower times as a result, but we do know that whoever will score one of the coveted top-three spots will have to contain their instincts and emotions going out. Have something left in reserve or Popovici and Pan will continue their winning ways.