Teen swimmer Li Xuanxu has confirmed her status as China's latest prodigy in the pool with a string of world-class performances at medley events.
The bespectacled 13-year-old from Guangdong Province sports a boyish buzz cut and, at 160 cm, is easily dwarfed by her lanky teammates.
But all those differences melt away once she stretches out in the pool.
At the National Championships in her home province in May, Li stole the show by winning the 400m IM with an explosive sprint in the final stretch to win in 38.54 secs.
She had the best time of what turned out to be an unimpressive championship. If she had raced within this margin at this year's worlds, it would have been enough to net her a silver medal.
Even more shocking, her best time in a previous competition was 10 seconds slower -- testament to the enormous growth potential available at this age.
"I just try to focus on the swimming and not think too much," she said from the top of the podium after her win, as another 13-year-old from Guangdong, Yu Xin, waited next to her in second place.
Coach Feng Zhen, who met Li four years ago at a sports academy in Hunan Province, fondly remembers her as a scrawny 10-year-old who could not even manage 25m in the pool.
"But she was clearly very smart with a strong mind, so I was confident I could turn her into a top swimmer," he said.
With two golds from the nationals and another two in the 200m and 400m medley from the ongoing National City Games in Wuhan, Li has already proved him right.
Aggression, says her coach, is a critical part of her armory.
"She does not have that kind of immense power, or a great feel for the water, but she swims very aggressively," he said.
She has already caught the eye of national team coach Zhang Yadong, who is now busy scouting replacement gold-medal hopefuls for Beijing 2008 after veteran medley swimmer Qi Hui's fortunes have taken a dive since the end of last year.
"Because (Li) is not a member of the national team, we'll have to wait a while and see how she goes," Zhang said.
But time is short, and Li knows it.
"I never thought about the Beijing Games. I am too young," Li said.
