ADJUSTING TO LIMELIGHT

Swim star Pan wants to 'work hard quietly' to reach new goals amid his rise to fame

- Kimberly Kwek

Pan Zhanle has conquered the world's biggest stages, beating out top swimmers in front of raucous crowds to emerge as a multiple Olympic and world champion.

But the toughest challenge for the Chinese swim star now is not facing his rivals in the pool. Instead, it is having to cope with all the attention that has been thrust on him after his successes in 2024.

The 20-year-old was one of the standout performers at the Paris Olympics, where he bettered his world record to win the 100m freestyle gold before anchoring the 4x100m medley relay team to victory, ending the United States' 64-year unbeaten run in the process.

"I'm not used to the fame and attention of being a star swimmer, I don't think I'll ever get used to it in my lifetime," he said in Mandarin. "Because we started off as normal people, it's not like I was born a winner."

Pan was speaking ahead of a sharing session with the public at the Singapore Management University on Oct 29.