Wu's parents first sent him to the pool when he was four years old as an exercise for weight-loss.[3]
He first decided to dedicate himself to swimming while watching swimming in the 1996 Olympics; the best result for Chinese men's swimming was 4th place in 50m freestyle, while Chinese women's swimming got gold. Wu said to his father that he wanted to be the first Chinese man to stand on the podium for Olympic swimming.[3]
Wu's father died of a heart attack in 2003 while meeting Wu to bring him home for the weekend after practice.[3]
Career
He had excellent times at the National Games and Asian Games. In fact, he has brought hope to China's swim team since first joining it. He was one of the youngest swimmers on the team when he joined.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, when he was only 17, Wu Peng made the 200 m butterfly final and became the only Chinese swimmer to finish in the top eight at the games. It was only Wu's first Olympics, and the team was satisfied with his performance.
He suffered an injury in 2009 and could not make it to the World Long Course Championships to try for the podium once again.
Wu himself has said that if he were to medal in the London 2012 Olympics, he would consider his career to have been full and satisfying.[5]
Wu Peng defeated Michael Phelps in the 200 fly in consecutive events, at the Michigan Grand Prix and Charlotte UltraSwim, in 2012 ending Michael Phelps' streak of 60 wins in nearly 9 years.[6]
In 2023, Wu staged a comeback at the Chinese Spring National Championships and the Chinese National Championships, a decade after his retirement. His aim was to take part in the 2023 Asian Games which would be held in his home city of Hangzhou. However he failed to qualify after finishing 5th in the 50m butterfly event.[7]
Major achievements
2002 Asian Games: First, men's 200 m backstroke, 200 m butterfly and 400 m individual medley
