Shen Duo
Shen Duo is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle events. Considered one of the most promising swimmers in the international scene, she currently holds three world junior records each in the 100 m freestyle, the 400 m medley relay, and the mixed 400 m freestyle relay, and also pocketed a total of nine gold medals to her career hardware in two major meets at the peak of 2014 season.
Career
When China hosted the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in her home city Nanjing, Shen won five gold medals and broke three world junior records in swimming. Shen helped the Chinese foursome scorch the final field of swimmers with two astonishing world junior records each in the mixed 4×100 m freestyle and in the girls' 4×100 m medley. Two days later, she continued to smash another world record with a time of 53.84 in the 100 m freestyle, vaulting her up to thirteenth in the world rankings. On August 20, Shen picked up her fourth gold of the meet in the 200 m freestyle, finishing a personal best in 1:56.12. In the girls' 4×100 m freestyle relay, Shen demolished the field with a phenomenal 53.59 split to run away with another relay victory for her host nation's foursome in 3:41.19.One month later, at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Shen added four more golds to her career tally in her respective events, most notably in both freestyle relay and sprint. On the first day of the competition, Shen posted a 53.58 split on the second leg to put the Chinese squad ahead to a marvelous victory in the women's 4×100 m freestyle relay, with a time of 3:37.25. In the women's 100 m freestyle, Shen held off her hard-charging teammate and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Tang Yi by 0.08 of a second to take the gold medal in 54.37. Shen continued to dominate the medal tally on her third night, as she threw down an anchor-leg split in 2:00.60 to deliver the Chinese foursome another relay victory in 7:55.17. In the women's 200 m freestyle, Shen pulled ahead from the rest of the field to pick up her fourth straight gold of the meet in 1:57.66.
For her outstanding successes at the Summer Youth Olympics and a six-gold medal streak in swimming, Shen has been nominated for the Breakthrough of the Year Award in the upcoming 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards in Shanghai.
At the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Shen helped the Chinese squad secured a bronze medal in the 4×200 m freestyle with a combined time of 7:49.10, and then pulled off a lead on the freestyle anchor leg to deliver the solid foursome of Fu Yuanhui, Shi Jinglin, and Lu Ying a blazing fast finish in 3:54.41 to claim the gold in the 4×100 m medley relay, just over two seconds away of the current meet record set by her team in 2009.
Personal bests (long course)
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note |
| 100 m freestyle | 53.84 | 2014 Summer Youth Olympics | August 18, 2014 | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1.56.12 | 2014 Summer Youth Olympics | August 20, 2014 |