Tang Muhan Sets Chinese Record in 200 Freestyle in Duel With Yang Juanxuan
Nearly two months after helping China to the gold medal and a world record in the 800-meter freestyle relay at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Tang Muhan and Yang Juanxuan engaged in a stellar battle in the 200 freestyle at the Chinese National Games. At the touch, it was Tang who secured victory, her mark of 1:54.26 establishing a national record.
Tang needed that sterling performance to hold off Yang, who came through with a mark of 1:54.48. At the Tokyo Games, Yang and Tang handled the opening legs of China’s triumphant 800 free relay, teaming with Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie for a world record of 7:40.33. At the Chinese National Games, they were not far off the Asian record of 1:53.92, held by Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey.
Li Bingjie finished on top in the 1500 freestyle, cracking the 16-minute barrier with a swim of 15:58.43. She was joined as a champion by Yu Yiting, who won the 200 individual medley in 2:10.12, quick enough to better the 2:10.51 of 2012 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen.
In men’s action, the top performance of Day Four was supplied by Chen Juner, who prevailed in the 200 butterfly behind a mark of 1:54.61. China did not have anyone contest the 200 fly at the Olympics and Juner’s time was slightly slower than the 1:54.45 posted by Italian Federico Burdisso for the bronze medal.
More team work All the best