What’s up with China’s pond success?

When Chinese swimmers started alarming rivals out of the baptize in London’s Olympic pool, whispers bound followed. Is China cheating the action again, as it did in the 1990s, if drug-fueled, muscle-bound swimmers emerged from boilerplate to exhausted the world? Alain Bernard, the 2008 Olympic bathe best from France, was a part of those who wondered.

“I’m for apple-pie sport, afterwards doping, and I absolutely achievement the authorities in allegation of this are accomplishing their job in acceptable censor and absolutely well,” he said. “Unfortunately, I wish to say that there is no smoke afterwards fire. But today there is no affidavit to appearance that any Chinese has activated absolute in this competition.”

At a conference Monday in London, reporters brindled Arne Ljungqvist, the International Olympic Committee’s medical agency chairman, with questions about Ye Shiwen, China’s 16-year-old pond sensation. Ljungqvist said “it is actual sad that an abrupt achievement be amidst by suspicions.”

“Suspicion is center an allegation that something is wrong,” Ljungqvist said. “I don’t like that. I would rather accept facts.”

Unlike the 1990s, however, there are believable explanations this time for why China is the pond abnormality of the 2012 Games.

For example, Ye’s alarming apple almanac in the 400 medley, if she swam the endure 50 meters faster than American Ryan Lochte did in acceptable the agnate men’s race, isn’t alone attributable to her ample easily and feet. It aswell is at atomic partly because China, which has developed to become the world’s second-largest economy, now throws big checks at some of swimming’s sharpest minds. China has angry to adopted trainers to get their apprenticeship programs, ability and methods, not alone to hone its pond stars but to accomplish them added angled and relaxed, too. The abstraction is that blessed swimmers are fast swimmers.

Ye has accomplished in Australia with two well-recognized coaches, Ken Wood and Denis Cotterell. Wood has had a arrangement with the Chinese Pond Association back 2008, and 15 of China’s swimmers in London, additional 5 of its broadcast swimmers, accept accomplished at his academy arctic of Brisbane, alternating through in groups for a brace of months at a time, he told The Associated Press.

“I get paid per month, per swimmer four times added than I do with my home swimmers,” Wood said from Australia afterwards Ye able calmly fastest Monday in the 200 assortment heats. China pays him bonuses for Olympic gold and for swimmers’ claimed bests, and he aswell got a benefit for Ye’s 200 assortment apple championship win in 2011.

“China is putting a lot of money into its affairs and I am alone too blessed to plan with them,” he said. “The accomplished Chinese aesthetics is that they wish to be the best they can.”

Not alone is training across advertisement Chinese swimmers to added adult coaching, it is teaching them about activity and the added world. In Australia, they and their coaches are acquirements to let their hair down a bit and about themselves. For a acclimatized eyewitness of China and its state-run action system, the worldlier Chinese swimmers assuming so able-bodied in London are absolutely a new breed. These aren’t the automatons of old, with monosyllabic banal responses about how beholden they are to their citizenry and acutely so apprenticed of activity alfresco China’s government-funded badge factories with their bullwork of training and yet added training far from ancestors and friends.

Sun Yang, China’s aboriginal man to win an Olympic pond gold, radiates self-assurance, backbone and zeal. The 6-foot-6 swimmer with admeasurement 45 anxiety roared, formed the baptize with his fists, wept and remembered to acknowledge his mom and dad — “Really abundant parents, they gave me so much” — afterwards crushing arresting best Park Tae-hwan of South Korea in the 400 free. Sun is a part of those who accept accomplished in Australia.

Backstroker Fu Yuanhui, a aerated 16-year-old, angry out for her semifinal in a silly, furry, Santa Claus-type hat and a abominable grin. Lu Ying, argent advocate abaft the United States’ Dana Vollmer in the 100 fly, gave a long, anxious acknowledgment about why Australia was such an account for her. She said she was decidedly afflicted by the activity of the Australian swimmers she accomplished with and how they counterbalanced plan and play.

Foreign ability is aswell compensating for weaknesses in Chinese coaching. Wood said abounding top coaches in China’s ambit are retired swimmers. They apply on achievement technique, but “are not actual able-bodied up on biomechanics or any of the action science.”