Career
She began swimming in 1991 because her parents thought she was so thin that the exercise would make her stronger.
Luo first caught attention when she won the 100 breast at China's 2000 Olympics Trials in Jinan in a solid time of 1:08.87 and finished second in the 200 breast in 2:27.29. Strangely, she was only selected to swim the 200 breast, her weaker event, at the 2000 Summer Olympics a few months later. She posted a PB of 2:25.86 in the semi-finals, only to falter in the final and finish 8th in 2:27.33.
Going into 2001, Luo progressed rapidly. At the Chinese Nationals in April, she set a national record of 1:07.85 in the 100 breast and placed 2nd in the 200 breast (2:26.37) which was won by Qi Hui in a world record (2:22.99). Shortly afterwards, Luo lowered by 100 breast national record to 1:07.42 at the 2001 East Asian Games in Osaka.
At the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Luo took home 4 medals, including gold in the 50 breast (30.84, Asian record, missing the WR by a mere 0.01 sec) and 100 breast (1:07.18, Asian record), and bronze in the 200 breast (2:25.29 pb) and 4x100 medley relay (4:02.53; breaststroke split 1:06.47 was the 2nd fastest ever, behind USA's Megan Quann's 1:06.29 from Sydney 2000). Luo went on to win the 100 breast at the 2001 Chinese National Games at 1:06.96 (Asian record). It was during these Games that she said her very well known quote, "The water in this pool is not very clean, but I am a clean swimmer myself" (referring to the series of astonishingly fast times posted by some totally unknown swimmers who were highly suspected of doping at the National Games).
The year 2002 did not start out well for Luo. She failed to win any gold at the World Short Course Championships in Moscow, finishing 2nd in the 50 breast (30.17) and 3rd in the 100 breast (1:06.36). The Pan Pacific Championships were equally disappointing, where Luo only managed a bronze in the 100 (1:08.70) and was 4th in the 200. Ironically, her time in the 100 breast semi-final (1:08.14) would have been enough to win gold in the final.
Luo eventually shined at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, winning gold in Asian records in the 100 breast (1:06.84, fastest time globally in 2002) and 4x100 medlay relay (4:00.21). She also placed 2nd in the 200 breast behind WR holder Qi Hui (2:24.01 to 2:24.67 pb).
Before the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona, Luo set her goal at erasing Penny Heyns' 1:06.52 from the world record books. The record was indeed broken in Barcelona, not by Luo but by Australia's 2000 Olympic silver medallist Leisel Jones in the semi-finals (1:06.37). Luo, the defending champion, immediately became the underdog as she qualified 3rd fastest (1:07.76). In the event final, as all eyes (and pressure) were on Jones, Luo took the race out really hard, splitting a mind-boggling 30.87 at the 50m mark. This strategy worked as Jones was disturbed by Luo's horrid pace. Luo hanged on to win the race in yet another Asian record of 1:06.80, the 3rd fastest time in history. Jones only managed 3rd in 1:07.47, with the USA's Amanda Beard 2nd in 1:07.42. Luo also defended her 50 breast world title in 30.67 (30.64 in semi-finals, just 0.07 sec off the WR), and swam the fastest breaststroke relay split (1:05.79) to help China win the 4x100 medlay relay in 3:59.89 (Asian record and 2nd fastest time in history; 2nd team after the USA to crack 4 mins).
Read more about this topic: Luo Xuejuan
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