Male swimmer Cai Li was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province on August 14, 1987. In 1995, he entered Jinhua Sports School and went to the provincial sports school the next year. In 2002, he was selected to the provincial swimming team.

He won the first place in breaststroke all-around at the 16th Games of Zhejiang Province in 2002, two golds and one silver at the National Intercity Games in 2003, three championships at the National Games in 2005, and claimed the title in men’s 50m freestyle at the Asian Swimming Championships in 2006.

At the Doha Asian Games the same year, he won the second place in men’s 4×100m freestyle relay and the third place in men’s 50m freestyle.