Swimming teenager beats Asian records, facing growth pains

QINGDAO, China, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Beating a pair of Asian records within one month, Chinese teenager swimmer Wang Jianjiahe confessed on Saturday that she is facing the biggest challenge of her career, the growth pains.

With a height of 182 centimeters, the 16-year-old Wang has been bothered by the growth pains during the past two years, especially her weight.

"I'm the type of person who gets fat easily. Unlike others who lost weight during competition, I gained it these days," Wang said. "I have to work very hard to keep fit. I usually do a lot of weight training and running."

"I had to ran for more than one hour on Thursday since I did not compete that day. Maybe that helped me to break the Asian record today," Wang explained. "But it will be my long-time battlefield against my weight rather than rivals in the pool."

On Saturday, Wang who won both 1,500m and 400m freestyle crowns at the Chinese National Swimming Championships, enjoyed her supremacy in the 800m by touching home in an Asian record of eight minutes 14.64 seconds. The previous record holder Li Bingjie came to second.

"It was an unexpected result and my third individual title here. It was very difficult to improve my personal best after the 1,500m, 400m, 200m and relays," said Wang, who bettered the 1,500m freestyle Asian record at the 2019 Pro Swim Series in Des Moines on March 6.

With the three titles to her credit, Wang has reached the FINA World Championships A standards, winning the tickets for the GWangju Championships this summer.

"I am looking forward to seeing my idol Katie Ledecky, the world record holders in the mid-long distance freestyle at the GWangju worlds. It will be my first worlds," Wang said. "I watched Ledecky on the TV all the time. I am excited to see her in the pool. I know I am far behind from her, but I will try my best."