The women’s 200-meter freestyle proved to be a sizzling event at the 2016 Chinese Nationals with Shen Duo and Qiu Yuhan posting final times under the 1:56 mark. Shen stopped the clock at a 1:55.82 to finish first, while Qiu turned in a 1:55.84 for second. Their times fall fourth and fifth respectively in the world rankings for 2016 leaving China with a great start to a 4×200-meter free relay.
Also under the 1:57-mark in the 200 was 14-year-old Ai Yanhan, who now owns the fastest time for anyone her age in history with a 1:56.46. Ai’s time moves her to eleventh in the world rankings.
Ye Shiwen, the Olympic gold-medalist in the 200 and 400 IM’s, finished first in the women’s 200-meter IM with a time of 2:12.01. While her time was a long way off from her 2:07 victory in London she looks to be set to defend her crown in Rio. Zhou Min turned in the second-fastest time in the event with a 2:!2.21, while the bronze medal went to Zhang Jiaqi (2:13.79).
Ning Zetao, who has tested positive for clenbuterol in the past, grabbed the top time with a 47.96 in the men’s 100-meter free semi-finals. Cao Jiwen (49.72) and Hou Yurie (49.88) finished second and third respectively in semi’s.
The women kept a tight field in semi-finals of the 200-meter fly, with the top five qualifiers sitting within one and a half seconds of each other. Zhou Yilin owns the top time with a 2:08.93 to the be only swimmer under the 2:09-mark. Chen Xinyi (2:09.47) and Wang Siqi (2:09.47) grabbed second and third respectively, while Zhang Yufei held on at fourth with a 2:09.58. The 2008 Olympic champion Liu Zige shouldn’t be counted out though, as she stopped the clock at a 2:10.46.
Simon-Pierre Bélanger