Wang Shun Snares 200 IM Crown at Chinese National Games; Li Bingjie With Swift 800 Free
The past few days of the Chinese National Games have continued to produce quick performances, headlined by Olympic champion Wang Shun in his primary event. The third-fastest performer in the history of the event, Wang hit the wall in 1:56.33 to finish more than two seconds ahead of his closest pursuer, Qin Haiyang (1:58.63).
Wang is coming off a career-defining showing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he went 1:55.00 in the 200 medley to fend off Great Britain’s Duncan Scott. That effort moved the Chinese star to No. 3 all-time, trailing only Americans Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.
The women’s 800 freestyle went to Li Bingjie, who checked in with a performance of 8:17.39. Tenth and out of the final at the Olympics, Li posted a time on home soil that would have earned the bronze medal during the summer. In the 100 freestyle, Yang Junxuan went 53.42 for the title. Meanwhile, Xu Jiayu (1:56.89) and Yu Jingyao (2:22.61) earned respective wins in the men’s 200 backstroke and women’s 200 breaststroke.
In the women’s 200 butterfly, Olympic champion Zhang Yufei had no trouble prevailing in her prime event. Zhang checked in with a swim of 2:05.84, which supplied a comfortable margin over runnerup Zhu Jiaming (2:07.24). A down-to-the-wire duel emerged in the men’s 100 freestyle, where He Junyi narrowly claimed victory in a time of 48.51. He was followed to the wall by Yang Jintong (48.55) and Pan Zhanle (48.59).
Other wins in men’s action were earned by Qin Haiyang (2:09.01) in the 200 breaststroke and Zhang Ziyang (7:51.86) in the 800 freestyle. Peng Xuwei was victorious in the women’s 200 backstroke, going 2:08.54, while Wang Changhao topped the field in the men’s 100 butterfly in 51.65.