Wu said to his father that he wanted to be the first Chinese man to stand on the podium for Olympic swimming.

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.

Although making it to the finals, he managed a joint fourth with the New Zealand swimmer Moss Burmester.

[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.

His aim was to take part in the 2023 Asian Games which would be held in his home city of Hangzhou.