A former team-mate of banned Olympic champion Sun Yang has given AFP a rare insight into how China drives its swimmers hard from childhood in the pursuit of national glory.
But Wang Yajie, who started swimming at three-and-a-half, told AFP that China’s approach had helped make the country a powerhouse in the sport.
Chinese swimming is in the spotlight after Sun, a three-time Olympic gold-medallist, was banned last month for eight years for refusing to provide a sample to doping inspectors.
Sun, the most decorated product of the Chinese system, started swimming at a young age at Chen Jinglun Sports School in Hangzhou, which has bred a number of Olympic stars.
Wang was Sun’s contemporary in the national swimming team before she retired following China’s 2013 National Games to pursue other interests, among them singing.
Underlining the sensitivity in China surrounding Sun, Wang declined to speak about his doping case, saying only that he was “a rare talent” whose loss would affect the team’s medal hopes at this year’s Tokyo Games.
The 27-year-old also declined to discuss whether during her spell in the Chinese team — a world often closed to outsiders — she was offered any banned substances.
But Wang, a former national butterfly champion, gave a glimpse of life at the heart of Chinese swimming, which is regarded as the jewel in the crown of Olympic sports in the country.
While on the national team they were mostly confined to camp, rising at 5:30 am to train for up to eight hours a day, seven days a week in the most intense periods.
