RIZHAO, China, September 23. SUN Yang has been on fire at the Chinese Long Course Nationals in Rizhao. Just days after posting a swift 200 free, Sun returned with a near world record in the men's 400 free.
Sun clocked a scorching-fast time of 3:40.29 in the men's 400 free, breaking Zhang Lin's Asian record of 3:41.35 from the 2009 World Championships. Sun also became just the third man to break 3:41, now standing third behind Paul Biedermann (3:40.07) and Ian Thorpe (3:40.08). He jumped in front of Ous Mellouli's previously third-best 3:41.11. Li Yunqi placed second in the middle distance event with a 3:49.17 tonight.
Sun Xiaolei turned in a national-record time of 24.87 in the men's 50 back to move into the top 25 of all time in the event, and break his previous mark of 25.02 from April. Cheng Feiyi finished second in the sprint back with a 25.29.
Wang Shun, who set the Asian record in the 400 IM yesterday, put on a show in the men's 200 IM with a 1:58.56, just missing the national record of Zhang Zishan (1:58.53) set in 2009 in China. Yin Yang placed second in 2:00.19, while Zhang Shan took third in 2:01.70.
Shao Yiwen claimed the women's 400 free crown in 4:04.59, while Lin Xuanxu took second in 404.62. Xin Xin picked up third in 4:07.98.
Zhou Yanxin won the women's 200 back title in 2:10.62, while Zhu Jiani (2:10.99) and Wen Jiang (2:12.40) rounded out the podium. Meanwhile, Zhang Bin took home the men's 50 fly in 23.97, while Zhao Jin followed in the women's 100 breast with a winning time of 1:08.09. Huang Chao topped the men's 200 breast in 2:10.37. Shanghai's women's 400 medley relay won in 4:02.76. Shandong took second in 4:04.51, while Zhejiang placed third in 4:04.54.