JINAN, China, October 21. AT the Chinese Nationals Games held in Jinan, Liu Zige crushed the world record in the women's 200-meter fly over long course competition.
Liu posted a shocking time of 2:01.81, smashing Jessicah Schipper's world record of 2:03.41 set at the World Championships in Rome this year. Previously, Liu clocked a then world-record time of 2:04.18 to win the 200 fly gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. Jiao Liuyang took second today in 2:05.87, while Gong Jie placed third in 2:06.18.
Liu definitely front-halfed the race in comparison to Schipper's previous global mark. Liu was under world-record pace by two seconds at the 100-meter mark, before falling off the back-half pace Schipper posted.
Here are the comparative splits:
Liu: 27.19, 58.08 (30.89), 1:30.20 (32.12), 2:01.81 (31.61)
Schipper: 28.21, 1:00.25 (32.04), 1:32.23 (31.98), 2:03.41 (31.18)
The performance returned the world record to Liu. Here are the recent progressions of the world record:
200 fly
2:04.18 Liu Zige, CHN – Beijing 08-14-08
2:04.14p Mary DeScenza, USA – Rome 07-29-09
2:03.41 Jessicah Schipper, AUS – Rome 07-30-09
2:01.81 Liu Zige, CHN – Jinan 10-21-09
Notably, the 2:01.81 also significantly clears the world record over short course meters. Yuko Nakanishi holds that mark with a 2:03.12.
In other action, Ma Xiang set a national record in the men's 200-meter breast with a time of 2:12.37. The performance broke the Chinese record of 2:12.75 set by Xie Zhi earlier this year. Huang Chaosheng finished second in 2:12.67 with Xue Ruipeng placing third in 2:13.51.
Additionally, Huang Shaohua won the men's 100 free in 48.86, while Pang Jiaying topped the women's 100 free semis with a 53.98. Qi Hui also led the way in the women's 200 breast semis with a 2:24.78.