Teen phenom's freak 36-hr revival and 'mind blowing' swim stuns ...

It’s a performance that has been labelled “mind-blowing” and scarcely believable.

However, 100m freestyle gold medallist Pan Zhanle’s insane record-breaking swim almost never happened.

On the brink of an early elimination after a disappointing swim in his heat, Pan capped a remarkable 36-hour turnaround to thrash his rivals — and his own world record — in the 100m freestyle, defeating his “swimming hero”, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers.

Remarkably, is the first person to set a new world record in the pool during these games amid the theory it’s been an “absurdly slow pool” in Paris.

With Pan and Chalmers lining up next to each other in lanes four and five, the Aussie didn’t have the cleanest of getaways and was near last at the 50m turn before charging to the line to nab the silver. But he and the rest of the field were in another race.

Even if Chalmers exploded off the blocks, it probably wouldn’t have mattered much. His Chinese opponent blitzed the rest of the field in one of the marquee events of the pool, stopping the clock in 46.40.

That was more than a second (1.08) faster than Chalmers. Pan shaved a whopping 0.40 off his previous world record.

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“It’s insane. That world record, that swim is absolutely mind blowing,” Aussie Olympic legend Ian Thorpe said on the Channel 9 coverage.

Former 100m freestyle world champion James Magnussen was just as stunned.

“I never thought I would see that in my lifetime. That was a huge performance from Pan Zhanle,” Magnussen wrote in a column for News Corp.

“He went out in 22.28 and back 24.12 — that is just insane speed.

“The race was probably over at the 35m mark. Nobody was near him.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life”

Before the games started, the 19-year-old phenom was heavily favoured to take out the event.

While he was about to contest his first Olympics, Pan was the world record holder having set a new mark during February’s World Aquatics Championship in Doha with a stunning relay lead-off swim.

However, his claim for a maiden Olympic gold medal turned on his head after an extremely underwhelming performance in the heats.

It was the hottest field of 10 heats, Pan was noticeably off the pace and touched the wall in sixth and in a time of 48.40 - 0.33 off the winner Chalmers.

Pan was lucky to scrape through to the semi finals after an underwhelming heat. Chalmers wins the heat in lane five with Pan finishing in a dead heat for fifth.Source: FOX SPORTS

Thorpe noted after the heat that the world record holder was “in trouble” of making the semis, while three-time Olympic medallist Nicole Livingstone said “he did not look good at all”.

“I was waiting for him to come back in the second 50 but it did not happen,” she said on the Stan Sport coverage.

Pan finished in a three-way tie for 13th in the heat - sneaking into the semi finals by just 0.05 seconds.

The surprising lull was short-lived, with Pan back to his blistering best in the semi final later that night, progressing through to the final with the quickest time.

24 hours later, he was on top of the swimming world after the jaw-dropping performance.

Pan revealed in the lead up to the games that he idolised Chalmers from a young age, pinpointing the moment the Aussie upset a strong 100m freestyle field in the 2016 Rio Olympics to claim gold.

China's Pan Zhanle (R) celebrates next to Australia's Kyle Chalmers after winning the final of the men's 100m freestyle swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)Source: AFP

In the eight years since, Chalmers hasn’t been able to reach the mountain top again, but he has plenty to be proud of.

He was 0.06 off a 100m freestyle gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, unable to chase down American Caeleb Dressel, but charged home into a silver.

With the Paris silver, Chalmers becomes the first man since Alex Popov (1992, 1996, 2000) to medal in three consecutive Olympic 100m freestyle finals.

Pan, meanwhile, said he was unaffected by a doping storm that has engulfed the Chinese team heading into these Olympics.

China’s swim team has been under intense scrutiny since revelations that 23 of the country’s swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication in 2021 but were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

While Pan’s name was among those listed, he said he had been frequently visited by anti-doping testers.

“Last year I received 29 tests and never had a positive,” he told reporters through a translator.

“From May to July, I had 21 tests, no positive. Today we received a second test already.

“I don’t think there has been any impact (on me) because all the testing has been done in the normal procedure ... So it’s not a big issue.”