THIS is the medal factory that churns out champion Chinese swimmers - and it's on the outskirts of humble Brisbane, not Beijing.

Aussie swim coach Ken Wood's Redcliffe City High Performance Centre is one of the secrets behind China's success at the London Olympics.

China has sent so many of its swimmers to Wood's Olympic production line, paying big money for the privilege, that the 82-year-old has lost count.

"I couldn't tell you, but it's a lot," he said. "I had 20 on the Olympic team - 15 individual swimmers and five in relays.

"The money is obviously no object to them. The Chinese Government wants to put China back as the No.1 swimming nation in the world.

"They're on a mission now . . . it's not a matter of if they're going to be No.1 swimming nation in the world, it's just a matter of when."

With gold medal bonuses of up to $250,000, Wood is set for a big windfall after China's impressive London performances.

Double gold medallist Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old record-breaking sensation, is among the wave of foreign opponents who have trained here.

But it's a controversial payday as Australian swimming descends into recriminations over the failure to win individual gold in the pool for the first time since 1976.

Swim boss Leigh Nugent blames our "easy life" society, and pool legend Shane Gould accused coaches of putting statistical analysis over technique. But Wood, who caused a storm last week when he said Australian swimmers were "too fat", says discipline and tough love is China's "X factor".

A dozen Chinese swimmers arrive at his centre at a time with their own doctor, physiotherapist, chef, masseuse and four coaches in a precision operation. They rent luxurious three-bedroom apartments on the Redcliffe foreshore, then dismantle the plush rooms, rearrange the furniture and put mattresses on the floor so each has their own sleeping space.

One owner says: "They are very quiet, very well-mannered and the perfect tenants."

They use the pool and local gym and hire two mini-vans to take them to Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast beaches and theme parks on a Saturday afternoon. But this is no holiday. They don't even sample our cuisine, with Redcliffe's famed fish and chip shops not getting a look in.

"They have their cooking utensils waiting out the back," Wood says.

"They don't cook by electricity, they cook by gas only in the woks and all their food is purchased at Chinatown. The fish, the vegetables, everything. They just do not eat any of our food at all."

Training begins at 5am daily with a two-hour session written by Wood. Before the last lap is complete, the Chinese coaches have already emailed the session back home for their provincial coaches to use on the other athletes still in China. There are 10 pool sessions and two gym workouts a week.

While only the top echelon of China's elite get to work directly with Wood, back home the numbers are mind-blowing. There are 28 provinces that share a rivalry as fierce as State of Origin and each has more than 100 swimmers between the ages of seven and 12. There are five coaches to every 20 swimmers.

"Our job was to educate the coaches. They don't know anything about physiology, energy systems, biomechanics. They think threshold is a doorway," Wood says.

What the Chinese coaches do have, however, is discipline. The coaches might be lax with a stop-watch, or duck outside for a cigarette every 10 minutes, but they rule the pool with an iron fist.

Wood has broken cultural barriers. When Ye won the world 200m medley title in Shanghai last year, she climbed into the stand to embrace Wood. Victory changes the swimmers' lives. Everything is performance-based. Before international success, the best in each province earns $1000 a month and has their own bedroom. It's a sliding scale to almost nothing for the slowest swimmer in each squad.

"With a world record, she is a millionaire now," Wood said. "When Liu Zige won (200m butterfly) in Beijing she gave her coach a brand new four-wheel-drive. They took her to Hong Kong and they gave her a kilo of gold."