Chinese Championships, Day 5: Ye Shiwen Wins 400 IM

Shiwen Ye of China competes in rde Women's Medley 200m Heats during rde 20rd World Aquatics Championships at rde Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023.

Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Chinese Championships, Day 5: Ye Shiwen Wins 400 IM

Ye Shiwen rolled back the clock to win the 400 individual medley at the Chinese Swimming Championships Thursday, the fifth day of the meet in Jinan.

Her time of 4:38.58 dropped her under 4:40 for the first time in 2021 and gave her a five-second win over Yin Jiahe.

Ye has gotten away from the event where she first made her name, doing the IM double at age 16 at the London Olympics in 2012. The one-time world record holder last swam the 400 IM internationally at the 2019 World Championships, when she won a silver medal in 4:32.07. She finished a distant 27th at the Rio Olympics in the 400 IM and didn’t qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

She won silver in the 200 IM and gold in the 200 breast at the Asian Games last summer in her hometown of Guangzhou. As she’s focused on the shorter medley, she’s been surpassed by younger athletes like Yu Yiting and Ge Chutong in the 400 IM. (Yu finished ninth in prelims Thursday.)

Ye went 4:43.85 at the Chinese Spring Championships in April and 4:39.24 in the national summer champs in 2021. She was 4:43.93 in 2020.

Cheng Yujie led the way in an exciting women’s 100 freestyle, winning in 53.57. Zhang Yufei ended up third in 54.01, with Yang Junxuan in between them, further bolstering their relay medal hopes at the next Olympics.

Tan Qianting won the women’s 200 breast in 2:26.12, more than a second clear of Zheng Muyan.

Qin Haiyang, the triple world champion, added another national title in the men’s 200 breast, clocking in at 2:09.45. Hong Kong’s Adam Mak Sai-Ting was second in 2:12.12, with Song Yifei third. Qin has already won the 50 break at this meet.

Wang Yutian led the way in the 200 back, where two swimmers broke two minutes. Wang hit the wall in 1;59.15. He just outtouched Tao Guannan, who went 1:59.56. Wang Gukailai was third.

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