CRI听力:What's Behind the Chinese Swimming Team?

China's swimming team made its debut at the 1984 Los Angles Olympics, but had to wait until the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to get its first gold medal.

At the Barcelona Olympics, Zhuang Yong, Lin Li and three other female swimmers won four gold and five silver medals.

But the glorious moments could hardly be replicated at later Olympics.

After years of intensive training, China's swimming team is back on the stage at the London Olympics.

Sun Yang won a gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle, becoming the first male swimming champion in China to win that competition.

Later, he won the gold medal in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle gold, breaking the world record and scoring an individual grand slam in the event.

Yet, the 20-year-old does not seem satisfied with his performance and says his peak time is yet to come.

"I think I haven't reached my limits, and I believe through tough training I can do better. I believe I can make it."

As a shining sports star in London, Sun Yang has drawn a great deal of attention from media worldwide.

Quan Yongxi is a Korean journalist from East Asia Sport.

"Sun Yang's performance was perfect today. We thought he would break records before, but we didn't know it was so easy for him. He is very famous in Korea, and we pay close attention to him. From now on, another Asian swimmer has been born to compete with the West."

Besides Sun Yang, Ye Shiwen became another apple of the media's eye after she won gold in the 400-meter and 200-meter women's medley.

Ye has become the third athlete to win gold in the medley. After a senior American coach later said Ye's speed in the last 50 meters was faster than that of American swimmer Ryan Lochte increased her exposure. But when he questioned whether she had used a banned substance to improve her performance.

"I feel it is quite unfair that others got so many medals without any doubts, but why have I received so many inquiries?"

As the leading figure of Chinese team, Sun Yang has been maintaining the innocence and dignity of China.

"I can tell you all that the members of the Chinese swimming team never got this far because of drugs but rather because of hardship. Suppose a U.S. athlete did the same as the Chinese did yesterday through her efforts. What might be her feeling if she was questioned rather than honored? Or is it because Americans are physically superior to the Chinese? I do not believe that China is inferior to any country now, including the U.S."

Now that tests have shown that the members of the Chinese swimming team did not use banned performance-enhancing substances, what is the reason behind their success?

Women's 200-meter butterfly champion Jiao Liuyang emphasizes the institutional advantages of resource concentration.

"I appreciate my coach and researchers very much in that they have always focused on me. I feel extremely happy to be valued and to be at the center of many training plans."

Ye Shiwen points to the tough training schedule of the Chinese swimmers when they were sent abroad for further training.

We trained very hard on a daily basis, usually two and half hours both in the morning and in the afternoon. It lasted for nine years. Coaches abroad attach great importance to details such as starting off and turning around. Their athletes were very active in training, which deeply impressed me."

Lu Ying, the silver medalist in the women's 100-meter butterfly, agreed that intensive training abroad also helped shape the Chinese athletes' characters, an aspect she would like to see change in China.

"In the Chinese system we are used to resting after training, but foreign athletes take up other activities such as reading after training. I suppose it is improper for us to train all the time while our counterparts are combining their leisure time and training."

Lu Yifan, head of the research team for China's swimming team, said the country's splendid achievements during the London Olympics are the result of accumulated efforts and hardships. He also believes that the climax could have come earlier if the team had solved more problems in technical details.

"Our progress was not achieved in days but since 2007, though it was not obvious then. Our poor performance at the Melbourne World Championship was compensated by a breakthrough at the 2008 Olympics, although we could have won three gold medals. We dealt well with problems in 2009, yet the high-tech suits upset us. In 2011, we harvested five gold medals at the Shanghai World Championship. But we still wanted to prove ourselves in an international tournament rather than at home, and here came the London Games."

For CRI, I'm Sun Yi.