Zhang Lin (simplified Chinese: 张琳; traditional Chinese: 張琳; pinyin: Zhāng Lín; born January 6, 1987) is a retired Chinese competitive male swimmer. He is an Olympic silver medalist, world champion, and the current world-record holder in the 800 metre freestyle.

On January 6 1987, Zhang was born in Haidian Deistrict, Beijing City. He is the second son to his parents Zhang Zhongquan (张仲泉) and Zhang Fenglan (张凤兰). He has an elder brother Zhang Cong (张琮) who is 5 years his senior.Both of his parents are the common staffs in a property management company.

Zhang started swimming at the age of 7. His junior school was nearby Beijing Sport University, it was one of his initial factors of swimming. In 2000, he decided to be a professional swimmer. His swimming idol is Australian Grant Hackett.

Zhang is an alumnus of Beijing 101 Middle School.Since 2016, Zhang has been studing in Beijing Sport University.

Zhang specializes in the 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m freestyle events. Zhang was selected for the national team in 2002.

At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships, he was the only Chinese male swimmer to reach the individual finals, finishing in eighth place. In 2005, he broke China's 400 freestyle record at the National Games, and was crowned 200 and 1,500 freestyle champion.

Zhang Lin won a silver medal in the men's 400 meter freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with a time of 3:42.44, 0.58 seconds behind gold medalist South Korean Park Tae-hwan, and making him at the time the third fastest 400 meter freestyler in history (and setting a Chinese Record in the process). Zhang's silver was the first Olympic swimming medal ever by a Chinese male swimmer.

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