Aa
Chinese swimmer stuns with Lochte-beating split
Hong Kong (CNN) -- When Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen dives into the pool on Monday, all eyes will be firmly on the clock to see if she can repeat her world-beating -- Ryan Lochte-beating -- time in the last 50 meters.
The 16-year-old is due to swim the heat of the 200 meter individual medley after taking gold in the 400 meter event on Saturday.
It wasn't just the win that captured the world's attention, although she did clinch gold after beating American champion Elizabeth Beisel and smashing the world record in 4 minutes 28.43 seconds.
The clock also showed that in the last 50 meters Ye swam faster than U.S. swimmer Lochte who won gold in the men's 400-meter individual medley the same night.
Ye, who wasn't among the race's favorites, clocked in 28.93 seconds in her final 50 meters of the competition's last 100 meter, freestyle leg, while Lochte went 29.10 seconds in his final 50.
Sports pundits also pointed out the Chinese athlete broke the record previously set by Stephanie Rice in the 2008 Beijing Olympics; the Australian swimmer did it with the aid of a polyurethane suit, which is now banned.
Lochte, 27, who holds various world swimming records, said on Sunday: "It was pretty impressive. And it was a female. She's fast. If she was there with me, I don't know, she might have beat me."
Not surprisingly, Chinese compatriots, from athletes to ordinary citizens, heaped praise on the swimming sensation.
The hurdler champion Liu Xiang said, "Ye Shiwen, she shocked me!" while one netizen said: "Ye is only 16! Sixteen is the age at which I am doing my homework at home while she wins the gold medal."
Even the swimmer herself was surprised. "I dreamed of winning the gold medal, but I never ever expected to break the record. So I am overwhelmed," Ye said in quotes carried Monday in the state-run China Daily.
Ye's swift time apparently caught commentators in the UK by surprise. BBC Olympic presenter Clare Balding provoked criticism by making remarks some interpreted as a suggestion that Ye had been cheating.
Turning to her co-presenter former British Olympian Mark Foster, Balding asked: "How many questions will be there, Mark, about someone who can suddenly swim much faster than she has ever swum before?"
Users on China's version of Twitter jumped to Ye's defense. "Don't suspect other people's success while you never saw how hard they fought for it," wrote one netizen on Sina Weibo, while another wrote: "Why doubt her success? She has won the match and that's it, disgusting BBC."
According to a profile in the China Daily last year, Ye was just seven years old when she told her mother she wanted to become a swimmer. She joined the Zhejiang provincial swimming team in 2007 and the national team the year after.
Since the age of 14, Ye has scored a number of victories in national and international competitions. She took the top spots in the 200 meter individual medleys in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and the 2011 World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai.
Ye has attributed her success to her training regime. "If the coach asks me to practice 10,000 meters, I would never be a lazy player to swim 9,900 meters instead," Beijing Morning News quoted her as saying.
SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/30/world/asia/olympics-china-ye-shiwen-swimming/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
The 16-year-old is due to swim the heat of the 200 meter individual medley after taking gold in the 400 meter event on Saturday.
It wasn't just the win that captured the world's attention, although she did clinch gold after beating American champion Elizabeth Beisel and smashing the world record in 4 minutes 28.43 seconds.
The clock also showed that in the last 50 meters Ye swam faster than U.S. swimmer Lochte who won gold in the men's 400-meter individual medley the same night.
Ye, who wasn't among the race's favorites, clocked in 28.93 seconds in her final 50 meters of the competition's last 100 meter, freestyle leg, while Lochte went 29.10 seconds in his final 50.
Sports pundits also pointed out the Chinese athlete broke the record previously set by Stephanie Rice in the 2008 Beijing Olympics; the Australian swimmer did it with the aid of a polyurethane suit, which is now banned.
Lochte, 27, who holds various world swimming records, said on Sunday: "It was pretty impressive. And it was a female. She's fast. If she was there with me, I don't know, she might have beat me."
Not surprisingly, Chinese compatriots, from athletes to ordinary citizens, heaped praise on the swimming sensation.
The hurdler champion Liu Xiang said, "Ye Shiwen, she shocked me!" while one netizen said: "Ye is only 16! Sixteen is the age at which I am doing my homework at home while she wins the gold medal."
Even the swimmer herself was surprised. "I dreamed of winning the gold medal, but I never ever expected to break the record. So I am overwhelmed," Ye said in quotes carried Monday in the state-run China Daily.
Ye's swift time apparently caught commentators in the UK by surprise. BBC Olympic presenter Clare Balding provoked criticism by making remarks some interpreted as a suggestion that Ye had been cheating.
Turning to her co-presenter former British Olympian Mark Foster, Balding asked: "How many questions will be there, Mark, about someone who can suddenly swim much faster than she has ever swum before?"
Users on China's version of Twitter jumped to Ye's defense. "Don't suspect other people's success while you never saw how hard they fought for it," wrote one netizen on Sina Weibo, while another wrote: "Why doubt her success? She has won the match and that's it, disgusting BBC."
According to a profile in the China Daily last year, Ye was just seven years old when she told her mother she wanted to become a swimmer. She joined the Zhejiang provincial swimming team in 2007 and the national team the year after.
Since the age of 14, Ye has scored a number of victories in national and international competitions. She took the top spots in the 200 meter individual medleys in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and the 2011 World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai.
Ye has attributed her success to her training regime. "If the coach asks me to practice 10,000 meters, I would never be a lazy player to swim 9,900 meters instead," Beijing Morning News quoted her as saying.
SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/30/world/asia/olympics-china-ye-shiwen-swimming/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
They should clone her.
Just wait until they have 500 million of these clones ready to swim across the ocean and take our jobs!
Just wait until they have 500 million of these clones ready to swim across the ocean and take our jobs!
I'm not trying to take anything away from this girl, but...
Not sure how they're doing it, but this girl is cheating. I suspect "doping" (performance enhancing drugs) of some description.
I have no doubt she's fast, but the fact remains: female swimmers ARE NOT as fast as male swimmers (at a professional/world-class level).
I swam competitively in both high-school and college, and the fact is, man are physically stronger and built differently than women, and quicker in the water (again, at a professional/world-class level).
The Chinese are known for copying & counterfeiting everything they touch (technology, medicine, industrial-applications, etc), and I think they've found a way to get under the radar (as far as doping is concerned).
There is absolutely NO WAY that a 16 year old girl is stronger than a 27 year old man.
If I'm wrong, I'll stand corrected, but I think the Chinese are cheating... SOMEHOW.
My 2 cents.
Not sure how they're doing it, but this girl is cheating. I suspect "doping" (performance enhancing drugs) of some description.
I have no doubt she's fast, but the fact remains: female swimmers ARE NOT as fast as male swimmers (at a professional/world-class level).
I swam competitively in both high-school and college, and the fact is, man are physically stronger and built differently than women, and quicker in the water (again, at a professional/world-class level).
The Chinese are known for copying & counterfeiting everything they touch (technology, medicine, industrial-applications, etc), and I think they've found a way to get under the radar (as far as doping is concerned).
There is absolutely NO WAY that a 16 year old girl is stronger than a 27 year old man.
If I'm wrong, I'll stand corrected, but I think the Chinese are cheating... SOMEHOW.
My 2 cents.
You must join this user group in order to participate in this discussion.
You are reading content posted in the Current Events . . . Group
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
