Career
He lost both his arms in a car accident when he was 6. He began swimming training at 7, introduced to the sport by a doctor who had himself been a para-athlete. As of April 2014, Xu holds S6 World records in 50 m freestyle and 50 m butterfly events.
He also swam in the 2008 Chinese relay team that holds the 4 x 50 m medley 20pts World Record.