World Swimming Championships in Rome, Zhang Lin won the first bronze medal for the Chinese team on Sunday, bagging the bronze medal in the men's 400m freestyle.

Zhang came in second place in qualification. Swimming in the fifth lane, Zhang fell behind a little at the start of the race, but managed to pull himself to third place after 100m. It was Canada's Ryan Cochrane who led the race over the first 200m, with Zhang Lin only 0.36 seconds behind. After 250m, second-placed Oussama Mellouli and Zhang Lin broke out and passed Cochrane.

Germany's Paul Biedermann surged into first place at the 350m turning point. Biedermann put in a fantastic performance to set a new world record of 3 minutes and 40.07 seconds, while Zhang Lin took the bronze.

Zhang Lin said:"No matter what the result is, I have tried my best. I want to say thanks to my coach. He helped me a lot. Though it's the bronze medal, I am very satisfied, and I think my coach is also very satisfied."