Many of China's elite swimmers are happy that more records were lowered by younger athletes. For them, the unrelenting pursuit of better results and the emerging upstarts motivate them to work harder.

"I hope Chinese swimmers can always take the gold medal in the women's 200m individual freestyle at international events," said double Olympic gold medalist Ye Shiwen of Zhejiang.

"I have been looking up to Ye for years, and she is like an older sister of mine," said 16-year-old Yu Yiting of Zhejiang.

Yu surpassed Ye to win the women's 200m individual medley on Sept 22. "Ye kept telling me to go all out in the event," said Yu, "She made me realize that the key to better results is to beat myself."

"I hope that I can take Ye's role in the future. To this end, I will be patient and make more efforts to prepare for next year's Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics," added Yu.