The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Beijing

China's head swimming coach has voiced pessimism about their Olympic chances, saying the country's once-powerful team lags far behind countries such as Australia and the United States.

His comments follow Chinese swimmers performing poorly at the recent National Swimming Championships, where just two Asian records were broken.

It comes after their worst performance in 15 years at last year's world championships in Melbourne, where they won just one silver and one bronze medal.

"We have the confidence to do our best, but we really have no specific event that will be able to produce a gold medal at the Beijing Games," head coach Zhang Yadong was quoted as saying by the China Daily on Thursday.

"So many world records have been set in Europe and Australia, but we only managed to break two Asian records in the tournament.

"So far there is no world record holder from China. It means we lag far behind the world.

""We did break six national records, which gives the athletes some sort of confidence. But it does not mean we'll be able to grab a gold. I tell you that so far I do not see any chance for gold in the sport."

Since its prime at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when China won four golds, the squad has managed just two golds in the following three Games-one in 1996 and one in 2004.

Wu Peng, who claimed silver in the 200m butterfly at last year's world championships, is their best hope, although he will be sharing the pool with US sensation Michael Phelps.

China also took a bronze in the women's 4x100m medley relay in Melbourne.

Many Chinese swimmers have publicly blamed closed-door coaching methods for their failure, with a lack of foreign coaches invited to help, but Zhang said the Chinese media were also to blame.

"The media put a lot of pressure on us, especially the younger swimmers. They were at a loss as what to do after it exaggerated their ability and potential."

There are 32 swimming gold medals up for grabs at the Olympics, making it the second most prolific sport behind track and field.