Ning Zetao

Ning Zetao is a Chinese former competitive swimmer, born on 6 March 1993 in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan. He specialised in freestyle sprinting after chronic bone calcification in his right knee led him to leave the individual medley, and he trained in the navy swimming team under the coach Ye Jin while serving as a lieutenant in the Chinese Navy. His best known result is gold in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. At the 2014 Asian Games he won gold in the 50 metre freestyle, the 100 metre freestyle, the 4x100 metre medley relay and the 4x100 metre freestyle relay, breaking Asian records in the last two events and the 100 metre freestyle. He swam for China at the 2016 Summer Olympics without reaching a final. Ning named Alexander Popov as his role model, and on his 26th birthday in March 2019 he announced his retirement on Weibo.