Eight Generations Under One Roof: Swimming Legend Returns to the Arena—Legendary Addition Leads Team to Compete in Singapore Masters World Championships (1)

The Swimming Gods Club has been established for seven years, and its members are all prominent figures in China's swimming community—three Olympic champions, more than 20 world champions, as well as Asian and national champions. Notably, the club also includes two of China's all-time national team head coaches in swimming history."The club’s original vision stems from our deep passion for swimming, and we aim to actively promote the development of recreational swimming in our country through the motto ‘Swim for Life, Always’—this time, the theme of both the Singapore World Championships and the Masters World Championships is ‘Water Shapes Us.’"Water Shapes Us), which truly reflects what's on our hearts.

Although many of our competitors have already won gold medals and accolades at the Olympics and World Championships, what makes us especially thrilled is the addition of two legendary Chinese swimming icons—Qi Lieyun and Dai Lihua.

This year91At the age of [age], Mr. Qi became the first Chinese athlete to set a swimming world record, and in the history of swimming, he is widely regarded as the iconic figure of the "high-leg" breaststroke technique.2023At the Fukuoka World Championships this year, he clinched the gold medal in the breaststroke event—on the very same lane where just days earlier, Qin Haiyang had made history by winning three World Championship golds. After the race, the heartfelt interaction between the two generations of China’s legendary breaststrokers quickly became a heartwarming story, touching the hearts of countless swimming enthusiasts.

(Rightmost, Qi Lieyun)

This year86Eighty-year-old Dai Lao is China's first female swimming athlete to earn the title of Sports Master. This year6Month15One day, she competed in a contest held in Hong Kong, achieving51Second78The results broke the women's85-89Age group50Michael Phelps holds the world record in butterfly swimming,51Second83The previous record was held by a Belgian athlete.2016Created this year—this marks the first time Chinese swimmers have set a world record in master swimming.

(Second from the right, Dai Lihua)

Old Man Dai also holds a remarkable record: he has won national championships in all four swimming styles—butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle—making him a true all-around swimmer. In fact, it’s safe to say that no one before or since has achieved such versatility. Notably, Old Man Dai’s father, Dai Linjing, was once the head coach of the Chinese men’s national football team.1957That year, he led the Chinese team to participate in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time—and it was in Beijing.4Than3Defeating the Indonesian team, this was also the Chinese national football team's first-ever international match.AThis season, when China's men's national team lost to Indonesia in the Asian qualifying round for the World Cup, many fans instantly recalled this very match.

(Dai Lihua has won the national championship.)

This time at the Masters World Championships, Masters QI and Masters DAI have already signed up for multiple events—among them, the mixed-gender medley relay, in which they’ll team up, currently has no identified opponents.

(Qi Lieyun, Dai Lihua)

Long before1964Back then, Coach Qi and Coach Dai were already serving as national team coaches. And among the legendary swimmers competing in this year's Masters World Championships, Jin Xiaoli, Shi Xiaoming, and Zhao Jing will once again weave a "three-generation legacy" story: Jin Xiaoli is the coach of Shi Xiaoming, who in turn coaches Zhao Jing—now the head coach of the swimming team at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

(Jin Xiaoli, Shi Xiaoming)

In fact, the vast majority of swimming stars participating in this year’s Masters World Championships are former elite athletes who have now become excellent coaches—if we consider10Calculating by generation, their national-team careers spanned1950Decades to2020Decades ago, you could say it was "eight generations under one roof"—their stories are a microcosm of China's modern swimming history.

(Zhao Jing, Shi Xiaoming)

This is the fourth time the Swimming Gods Club has participated in the World Masters Championships, and2019Year of Gwangju,2023Fukuoka, this year2024At the first three World Championships held in Doha, the swimming prodigy already achieved outstanding results. This time in Singapore, we’re confident in delivering even greater performances to proudly represent our country.

According to statistics:2024More than a year after the Doha World Championships, master swimmers from various countries have collectively set new records in long-course competitions.96Individual items,30The new world records set by these teams—most of whose record-breakers will also compete in this year's Masters World Championships—the swimming stars will go head-to-head with athletes from countries and regions around the globe.6000Top athletes come together to compete side by side in the pool, sharing joy in the crystal-clear water.

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