GUANGZHOU, China, November 15. CHINA was at the top of the podium early and often during the third day of long course meter swimming at the Asian Games this evening.
China's Gao Chang eclipsed her top-ranked time in the women's 50 back with a winning 27.45. That swim cleared her previous season best of 27.54 set at Chinese Nationals in August. Japan's Aya Terakawa finished second in 27.86 to move to fifth in the world rankings, while China's Xu Tianlongzi earned third in 28.14 to improve to 11th in the rankings.
Japan's Ryo Tateishi captured the men's 100 breast title in 1:00.38, coming up short of his third-ranked season best of 59.84 from Japanese Nationals in April Kazakhstan's Vlad Polyakov finished second in 1:01.03, while China's Wang Shuai touched third in 1:01.71. Japan's Kosuke Kitajima posted a surprising fourth-place finish with a 1:01.85. Kitajima owns the fastest time this year with a 59.04 from Pan Pacs that stands as the top time ever in a textile suit.
China's Jiao Liuyang cruised to victory in the women's 200 fly with a 2:05.79. That swim finished just shy of her top-ranked effort of 2:05.46 clocked at Chinese Nationals in April. Japan's Natsumi Hoshi touched second in 2:07.96, while Korea's Choi Hye Ra earned third in 2:08.39.
Japan's Ryosuke Irie dominated the men's 200 back with a top time of 1:55.45. That clocking came up short of his third-ranked season best of 1:55.11 from February. China's Zhang Fenglin touched second in 1:57.53, while China's Cheng Feiyi picked up third in 1:58.93.
China's Shao Yiwen followed in the women's 400 free with a 4:05.58 for the win. That performance jumped her to 11th in the world rankings overall. China's Liu Jing placed second in the middle distance event with a 4:08.89, while Korea's Seo Younjeong wound up third in 4:14.50.
China's Lu Zhiwu claimed the men's 50 free title in 22.37, while Japan's Masayuki Kishida earned second in 22.45. Japan's Ranmaru Harada took third overall in 22.84.
China's Zhang Lin, Jiang Haiqi, Li Yunqi and Sun Yang won the men's 800 free relay with a time of 7:07.68. Zhang pushed China out to the early lead with a 1:47.30 200 free leadoff. That swim beat his 19th-ranked season best of 1:47.54, pushing him to 14th in the world rankings.