According to the Aquatics Integrity Unit (AIU), since 1/1, each Chinese swimmer has been tested an average of 8.8 times.

Wang Haoyu, the gold medalist in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, was tested 13 times. Qin Haiyang, dubbed China's "breaststroke prince," underwent 12 tests. At the 2023 World Championships, Qin won four gold medals, including the 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke – breaking the world record with a time of 2 minutes 5.48 seconds. He previously won five gold medals at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, he won gold in the men's 4x100m medley relay and silver in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.

Qin Haiyang (second from left) wins gold in the men's 4x100m medley relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AP

Qin Haiyang (second from left) wins gold in the men's 4x100m medley relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AP

American swimmers were tested an average of 4.1 times, while British athletes were tested 2.2 times. Neutral athletes, primarily Russians, faced an average of 8.2 tests. In total, the AIU conducted 4,018 doping tests on swimmers participating in the Singapore event.

Testing will continue until the end of the event, with 830 samples collected throughout the 24 days of competition.

The AIU is an independent body responsible for safeguarding the integrity of aquatic sports, including swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo, and open water swimming, under the governance of World Aquatics (formerly FINA). "This report highlights World Aquatics' firm commitment to fair competition and the highest standards of integrity in aquatic sports," they stated.

The Chinese Swimming Association has not yet commented on the matter.

The 2025 World Aquatics Championships takes place from 10/7 to 3/8. This is the first time Singapore has hosted the world's largest aquatic sports event, and the first time the competition has been held in Southeast Asia.

The event will bring together approximately 2,500 athletes from over 200 countries and territories, competing in six main sports: swimming, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming, water polo, and high diving, with a total of 77 events.

Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle celebrates victory in the men's 100m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AP

Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle celebrates victory in the men's 100m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AP

The Chinese swimming team is under intense scrutiny because seven months before the 2021 Olympics, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) at a national swimming competition. At the time, the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) explained that the swimmers had ingested food contaminated with TMZ. They claimed to have found the substance in spice containers in the kitchen and hotel drains. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted CHINADA's explanation, kept the information confidential, and allowed the Chinese swimmers to continue competing. Subsequently, at the 2021 Olympics, Zhang Yufei won two gold and two silver medals, while Li Bingjie secured one gold and one bronze.

The incident only came to light in 4/2024, when the New York Times (USA) and ARD (Germany) reported on it. The scandal sparked outrage among officials and swimmers from other countries. In late June, swimming legend Michael Phelps and swimmer Allison Schmitt appeared before a hearing of the US House Subcommittee on Commerce and Energy to discuss whether the US government should stop funding WADA.

Hong Duy (CNN)