Career
Although she had never competed in any edition of the Olympic Games, Dai held her distinction of being one of the world"s top class swimmers in the early 1990s. During her sporting career, she captured more than a dozen medals in breaststroke and individual medley, and also helped the Chinese team demolish a global standard in the medley relay from the FINA World Aquatics Championships in 1994. In 1993, Dai made her first international breakthrough at the first ever FINA Short Course World Championships in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, where she captured a total of five medals, four golds and one silver.
Dai also established three world records each in the 100 m breaststroke (1:0658), 200 m breaststroke (2:2199), and 400 m individual medley (4:2900), and teamed with He Cihong, Liu Limin, and Le Jingyi to snatch the first medley relay title in a sterling time of 3:57.73, adding it to a medal tally of ten for the Chinese team in short-course swimming.
In her first event, 400 m individual medley, Dai edged out the American duo Allison Wagner and Kristine Quance on the freestyle leg to take home the gold in 4:39.14, despite of her accusations over China"s doping scandal. Four days later, in the 100 m breaststroke, Dai earned a silver in 1:09.26, finishing behind Australia"s Samantha Riley by 1.57 seconds.
She also gave her teammate Yuan Yuan a further reason to celebrate as the Chinese handed a medal lock in the pool with a two–three finish. In the 4×100 m medley relay, Dai, along with He Cihong, Liu Limin, and Le Jingyi, established a new world record to claim the gold medal in a sterling time of 4:01.67, slashing 0.87 seconds off the standard set by the United States. Olympic team from the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
When Japan hosted the Asian Games in Hiroshima by the following month, Dai added five more medals to her career hardware: three golds and two silver.
Rebounding from two losses, including 200 m breaststroke, at these Games, Dai continued to built her illustrious career with two gold medals each in the 100 m breaststroke (1:0987), and in the 200 m individual medley (2:1542). Some reports claimed that she had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids.
