China's Zhang Lin stepped on to the podium after nearly half a year away from the pool when he won a bronze medal with his teammates in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay at the 14th FINA World Championships on Friday.

The historic bronze for the men's team at the worlds has boosted the confidence of Zhang, the country's first male world champion swimmer.

"I performed well today. Not only me, but also my three teammates we all did well," said Zhang.