A senior figure in the London 2012 Games has warned against "irresponsible" and "destructive" judgment of the Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen after a leading coach described her world-record breaking race as "disturbing".

John Leonard, the executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, last night compared Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen’s winning performance in the women’s 400m individual medley to Irish swimmer Michelle Smith.

Ye Shiwen returned to the Olympic pool after her other-worldly 400 metres individual medley swim to easily head the field in the heats of the shorter medley event.