The Chinese men closed out the Asian Games with an exclamation point as they went toe to toe with Japan in the final of the men’s 4×100 medley relay as they swam the two fastest times in the world this year. Xu Jiayu (52.60), Yan Zibei (58.86), Li Zhuhao (50.61) and Yu Hexin (47.92) clinched the gold for China with a 3:29.99 which was faster than the United States and Great Britain did to win their respective championships.
It was not easy though as Japan finished in a fighting battle with the silver at 3:30.03. Ryosuke Irie (52.53), Yasuhiro Koseki (58.45), Yuki Kobori (51.06) and Shinri Shioura (47.99) had the second fastest time in the world this year, lowering their time from Pan Pacs when they finished second to the Americans.
Kazakhstan won the bronze with a 3:35.62 thanks to a stellar breaststroke leg from Dmitriy Balandin (58.88).
- China, 3:29.99, Games Record (Xu, Yan, Li, Yu)
- Japan, 3:30.03 (Irie, Koseki, Kobori, Shioura)
- Kazakhstan, 3:35.62 (Kaskabay, Balandin, Mussin, Varakin)
- Singapore, 3:37.68 (Zheng, Khoo, Schooling, Chua)
- Korea, 3:37.93 (Lee, Moon, Chang, Yang)
- Indonesia, 3:38.18 (Sudartawa, Nathaniel, Sutanto, Sidiq)
- Chinese Taipei, 3:41.52 (Chuang, Lee, Chu, An)
- Hong Kong, 3:44.61 (Lau, Lang, Lim, To)
2018 Virtual World Championships
- China, 3:29.99, Asian Games
- Japan, 3:30.03, Asian Games
- United States, 3:30.20, Pan Pacs
- Great Britain, 3:30.44, Europeans
- Australia, 3:30.52, Pan Pacs
- Russia, 3:32.03, Europeans
- Brazil, 3:32.16, Pan Pacs
- Germany, 3:33.52, Europeans
