Moments after touching the wall in the men's 400m freestyle final on September 25, Zhang Zhanshuo raised his hands and slowly counted from one to seven.

The 19-year-old Chinese swimmer had just won his seventh gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, completing his debut with a Games record of 3 minutes 41.28 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

The victory made Zhang the first swimmer to win seven golds at a single Asian Games. He also equalled the record across all sports, set by DPRK shooter So Gil-san in 1982.

Zhang won seven of the eight events he entered. His four individual titles spanned the freestyle distances from 200m to 1,500m, with his 200m victory also setting an Asian record.

He added three relay golds, helping China set Asian records in the men’s 4x200m freestyle in 7:00.17 and the men's 4x100m freestyle in 3:10.60. His other relay title came in the mixed 4x100m medley.

Born in Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province, Zhang also pursues his education outside the pool, having enrolled at Fudan University's School of Journalism in 2025.

Despite his historic haul and the cheers that filled the arena, the teenager remained composed.

"I feel much calmer than I had imagined," he said after the 400m final. "Of course, I'm very happy to win these seven gold medals, and I will turn them into greater motivation going forward."

(With input from Xinhua)