Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch
HUANGSHAN, China, October 15. World-record holder Sun Yang is off to a strong start at the Chinese National Swimming Championships in Huangshan. Through the first two days, he’s already picked up a pair of title.
Sun topped his best event with a 14:54.52 in the men’s 1500-meter free on day one, well ahead of Wang Kechang’s second-place time of 15:18.76, but good enough to come close to his fourth-ranked season best of 14:49.75 from the Asian Games. Yang Jington, a World Youth Open Water Champion, took third in 15:22.61.
“Since there is no close competition within the event, I swam very relaxed and smooth. I don’t feel tired at all,” Sun told Xinhua. “I have too few competitions this year, so I want to take this meet as a high-quality training session. I want to swim all my favorite freestyle events and see how is my form after the Incheon Asian Games.”
Sun followed up on day two with a sizzling 1:45.66 to win the men’s 200-meter free. That’s just off his fourth-ranked season best of 1:45.28 from the Asian Games. Qian Zhiyong placed second in 1:48.96 with Xu Qiheng earning third in 1:49.06.
Olympic gold medalist Ye Shiwen demonstrated a growing event schedule as the IMer finished third in the 200-meter fly with a 2:09.39. Li Shuang (2:08.24) and Zhou Yilin (2:08.58) claimed first and second ahead of her.
In a stunner, Qiu Yuhan upset Shen Duo in the women’s 100-meter free, 54.40 to 54.46. Shen is coming off an amazing Youth Olympic Games with a handful of gold medals as well as a strong outing at the Asian Games. The loss was a surprise for the sprint prodigy. Zhu Menghui (54.75) and Fu Yuanhui (55.20) took third and fourth in the finale.
Liu Yaxin won the women’s 200-meter back in 2:10.51 with Shi Jinglin taking the women’s 50-meter breast in 31.39. Wang Lizhuo picked up the men’s 100-meter breast crown in 1:02.06 with Yang Zhixian earning the men’s 200-meter IM title in 1:59.08. Zhejian won the men’s 800-meter free relay on day one as well with a 7:17.25.
Zhang Sishi edged Fang Yi, 2:14.33 to 2:14.92, for the women’s 200-meter IM, while Wang Xinya finished third in 2:15.31. Zhang Qibin downed Ning Zetao in the men’s 50-meter fly, 23.61 to 23.66. Shi Yang hit the wall third in 23.74.
Liu Xaign clocked a 28.09 to top the women’s 50-meter back, while Cheng Haihua (28.23) and Wang Xueer (28.50) took second and third. Xu Jiayu crushed the field in the men’s 200-meter back with a 1:56.66. Li Guangyuan (1:59.17) and Diao Jigong (2:00.08) closed out the podium.
Lu Ying turned in a 26.09 to win the women’s 50-meter fly, while Qiu Yuhan (26.56) and Wu Yue (26.70) finished second and third. Beijing closed out the second day with an 8:03.58 to top the women’s 800 free relay.