Sports Desk
QINGDAO: Liu Xiang and Yan Zibei, the Asian record holders of the women’s 50m freestyle and men’s 100m breaststroke, won titles in the two events respectively at the Chinese national swimming championships here on Tuesday.
Representing Guangdong, Liu Xiang touched the finishing line first in 24.45 seconds in the women’s 50m freestyle, while Zhu Menghui from Zhejiang and Chen Xinyi from Shanghai took second and third places respectively.
World champion Yan Zibei took the crown in the men’s 100m breaststroke in 59.07 seconds, with Wang Lizhuo from Heilongjiang and Yu Zongda from Hubei rounding out the top three.
Zhejiang bagged all three medals in the men’s 100m butterfly, as Hong Jinquan clinched the gold in 53.03 seconds.
Ranking fourth in the preliminary heat, Olympic champion Ye Shiwen failed to advance to the final of the women’s 400m individual medley, as she failed to make the top eight in the physical tests, according to a new rule of the championships.
Ye’s teammate Yu Yiting won the title in the final in 4:42.12s, Zhang Yifan from Hebei, got the silver and Yin Jiahe, also from Zhejiang, took third place.
Rookie Zhang Ke, 19, took first place in the final of the women’s 1,500m freestyle in 16:13.26. Wang Jianjiahe, who broke the Asian record of the event in the preliminary heat, also missed the final due to physical tests results.
Attracting around 300 of China’s top swimmers, the 2020 Championships are being held from September 26 to October 2 in Qingdao.
The swimmers’ performances at the championships will act as an important reference for their qualification for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
