Ning Zetao not only qualified to compete in the finals of the men's 100-meter freestyle on Aug. 6 at the 16th FINA World Championships 2015 hosted by Kazan, Russia, but also won the gold medal, making him the first male Asian to do so.
The 22-year-old propelled his 6-foot-3 frame through the water and finished the race in 47.84 seconds. Australian Cameron McEvoy (47.95) and Argentine Federico Grabich (48.12) came in second and third, respectively.
Ning was eight years old when he started swimming. He got accepted at the Henan Provincial Swimming Team when he was 11 and at the Chinese Navy Swimming Team when he was 14.
At 16, he joined the 11th Chinese National Games in Oct. 2009 in Shandong, his first-ever major competition. He reached the finals and was in eighth place in the 200-meter individual medley.
He was 18 when he placed fourth at the 100-meter freestyle at the Chinese National Swimming Championships in 2011 in Hubei.
When he became 20, he competed in four major events all in 2013.
Ning won in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle at the Chinese National Swimming Championships in Henan, at the 12th Chinese National Games in Liaoning and at the East Asian Games in Tianjin.
He also came in second in the 4x100-meter freestyle at the East Asian Games and won gold in the 50-meter butterfly at the Chinese National Swimming Championships in Anhui.
The following year, at 21, he found himself competing outside the country.
Ning bagged the gold medal in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle at the Conseil International du Sport Militaire (International Military Sports Council) World Military Swimming & Lifesaving Championships held in Tenero, Switzerland.
At the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, he won in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle. He received another gold medal after winning the men's 4X100-meter medley relay together with Li Xiang, Li Zhuhao and Xu Jiayu.
He won in the 100-meter freestyle at the Chinese National Swimming Championships, which was again held in Anhui in 2014. He came in second in the 50-meter butterfly.
At the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships 2014 in Doha, Qatar, he was in the 12th place in the semifinal round of the 50-meter freestyle.
In an interview after his recent historic win in Kazan, Ning said that in the FINA event, he could be “on top of the world.”
Silver medalist Cameron McEvoy tweeted: “I'm a happy Aussie who just raced alongside the best in the world!”
The best in the world is now on top of the world.