The first full finals session of swimming at the 2018 Asian Games got started with three new Games Records falling. China got four gold medals thanks to Wang Jianjiahe, Sun Yang, Xu Jiayu and Liu Yaxin and Japan got three golds thanks to Satomi Suzuki, Daiya Seto and their women’s 4×100 free relay.
Xu Jiayu and Satomi Suzuki each broke Games Records in their swims and Japan’s 4×100 free relay closed the session with a Games Record of their own.
Women’s 1500 Free
China got its 2018 Asian Games off with a 1-2 finish in the women’s 1500 free with Wang Jianjiahe and Li Bingjie winning gold and silver. Wang and Li were back and forth throughout the first 800 to which Wang pulled away and was nearly three full seconds ahead of Li. Li scratched and clawed her way back and almost caught Wang but the latter held on for a 15:53.68 while Li settled for silver at 15:53.80.
In the 2018 virtual world championships, Wang and Li are now third and fourth behind American Katie Ledecky and Italian Simona Quadarella. The bronze medal here went to Waka Kobori of Japan at 16:18.31.
Japan’s Yukimi Moriyama (16:34.23) finished fourth in the race.
This is also the first time the women’s 1500 free has been contested at the Asian Games so China will claim the inaugural gold medal in the now Olympic distance.
- Wang Jianjiahe, CHN, 15:53.68
- Li Bingjie, CHN, 15:53.80
- Waka Kobori, JPN, 16:18.31
- Yukimi Moriyama, JPN, 16:34.23
- Ching Gan, SIN, 16:39.70
- Han Dakyung, KOR, 16:58.57
- Tang Tsoi, HKG, 17:08.39
- Lam Ho, HKG, 17:20.65
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Katie Ledecky, USA, 15:38.97, Pan Pacs
- Simona Quadarella, ITA, 15:51.61, Europeans
- Wang Jianjiahe, CHN, 15:53.68, Asian Games
- Li Bingjie, CHN, 15:53.80, Asian Games
- Sarah Kohler, GER, 15:57.85, Europeans
- Kiah Melverton, AUS, 16:00.08
- Leah Smith, USA, 16:00.82
- Ajna Kesely, HUN, 16:03.22
Men’s 200 Free
China’s Sun Yang finally won the Asian Games gold medal in the 200 free with a 1:45.43 on Sunday night in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sun had won two straight silver medals in the Asian Games in the 200 free, finishing behind Park Tae Hwan and Kosuke Hagino the last two times. Neither of those swimmers were swimming the event so the gold medal was Sun’s to lose.
Sun swam a 1:45.43 to finish almost a full second ahead of Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto (1:46.50) despite the Japanese swimmer going faster at Pan Pacs earlier this month. China got two on the podium with Ji Xinjie (1:46.68) finishing with the bronze medal.
Jordan almost made Asian Games history by winning their first medal in swimming but Khader Baqlah finished in fourth at 1:46.77. Baqlah is going to be a junior at the University of Florida.
Japan’s Naito Ehara (1:47.66), Malaysia’s Welson Sim (1:47.99), Korea’s Lee Hojoon (1:48.10) and Vietnam’s Huang Quy (1:50.57) also competed in the final.
This is China’s first gold medal in this event at the Asian Games since Liu Yu won in 2002 and it is their third overall gold as Sun joins Liu and Xie Jun (1990) as winners in the event for China.
- Sun Yang, CHN, 1:45.43
- Katsuhiro Matsumoto, JPN, 1:46.50
- Ji Xinjie, CHN, 1:46.68
- Khader Baqlah, JOR, 1:46.77
- Naito Ehara, JPN, 1:47.66
- Welson Sim, MAS, 1:47.99
- Lee Hojoon, KOR, 1:48.10
- Huang Quy, VIE, 1:50.57
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Duncan Scott, GBR, 1:45.34, Europeans
- Sun Yang, CHN, 1:45.43, Asian Games
- Townley Haas, USA, 1:45.56, Pan Pacs
- Kyle Chalmers, AUS, 1:45.56, Commonwealth Games
- Andrew Seliskar, USA, 1:45.74, Pan Pacs
- Mack Horton, AUS, 1:45.89, Commonwealth Games
- Katsuhiro Matsumoto, JPN, 1:45.92, Pan Pacs
- Danas Rapsys, LTU, 1:46.07, Europeans
Women’s 200 Back
China won its third straight gold medal in the pool on the first night of action from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Liu Yaxin followed in the footsteps of Wang Jianjiahe and Sun Yang to win China’s third gold medal of the night. Liu took out the 200 back with a 2:07.65 for the gold medal, missing the Games Record of 2:06.46 from Zhao Jing in 2010.
Liu will be joined on the podium by fellow Chinese swimmer Peng Xuwei (2:09.14) who won the bronze medal. The silver medalist was Natsumi Sakai of Japan at 2:08.13. She went slightly faster than what she did at Pan Pacs earlier this month.
This is China’s fourth gold medal in the 200 back at the Asian Games as Liu joins Lin Li (1990), He Cihong (1994) and Zhao (2010) as Chinese winners in the event. Liu’s time was also outside the top eight of the 2018 Virtual World Championships, which is all the finals time compiled from the three other major meets this summer.
- Liu Yaxin, CHN, 2:07.65
- Natsumi Sakai, JPN, 2:08.13
- Peng Xuwei, CHN, 2:09.14
- Sayaka Akase, JPN, 2:10.35
- Im Dasol, KOR, 2:13.66
- Wong Toto, HKG, 2:14.68
- Nurul Fitriyati, INA, 2:19.38
- Roxanne Yu, PHI, 2:21.25
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Kylie Masse, CAN, 2:05.98, Commonwealth Games
- Kathleen Baker, USA, 2:06.14, Pan Pacs
- Margherita Panziera, ITA, 2:06.18, Europeans
- Taylor Ruck, CAN, 2:06.41, Pan Pacs
- Regan Smith, USA, 2:06.46, Pan Pacs
- Emily Seebohm, AUS, 2:06.82, Commonwealth Games
- Kaylee McKeown, AUS, 2:07.01, Pan Pacs
- Daria Ustinova, RUS, 2:07.12, Europeans
Men’s 100 Back
In one of the most hyped up races of the meet, China’s Xu Jiayu and Japan’s Ryosuke Irie squared off in the 100 back final on the first night of the meet at the 2018 Asian Games with Xu coming out on top at 52.34 to Irie’s 52.53. Xu was out in a 25.16 to Irie’s 25.61 and the Chinese man held on to win China’s fourth gold medal to start the meet in Jakarta.
Xu also tied Irie’s Games Record with a 52.34, the exact time it took Irie to win gold in 2014. Xu won the virtual silver medal at the 2018 Virtual Worlds with that swim, sitting only behind Ryan Murphy from Pan Pacs. Irie’s time tied Kliment Kolesnikov’s winning time from European Championships.
In the real race here in Jakarta, South Korea got its first swimming medal of the 2018 Games with Lee Juho claiming the bronze at 54.52, just ahead of Japan’s Masaki Kaneko (54.61).
This was the first race China did not have two swimmers on the podium as Li Guangyuan placed fifth at 55.01.
Vietnam’s Paul Le (55.72), India’s Srihari Nataraj (56.19) and Indonesia’s Gede Sudartawa (58.82) also swam in the final.
- Xu Jiayu, CHN, 52.34, Games Record
- Ryosuke Irie, JPN, 52.53
- Lee Juho, KOR, 54.52
- Masaki Kaneko, JPN, 54.61
- Li Guangyuan, CHN, 55.01
- Paul Le, VIE, 55.72
- Srihari Nataraj, IND, 56.19
- Gede Sudartawa, INA, 58.82
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Ryan Murphy, USA, 51.94, Pan Pacs
- Xu Jiayu, CHN, 52.34, Asian Games
- Ryosuke Irie, JPN, 52.53, Asian Games
- Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS, 52.53, Europeans
- Evgeny Rylov, RUS, 52.74, Europeans
- Mitch Larkin, AUS, 52.88, Pan Pacs
- Matt Grevers, USA, 52.99, Pan Pacs
- Daniel Martin, ROU, 53.52, European Juniors
Women’s 100 Breast
Japan ended China’s hot streak at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta as Satomi Suzuki won Japan’s first swimming gold medal on the first night of action from Indonesia. Suzuki went 1-2 with Reona Aoki as Suzuki won the gold with a 1:06.40 for a new Games Record. She broke Shi Jinglin‘s Games Record of 1:06.67 from 2014. Shi finished with the bronze medal at 1:07.36, unable to defend her title. Aoki won the silver medal at 1:06.45, also under the old Games Record.
Suzuki also ended China’s hot streak in this event at the Asian Games as the Chinese have won seven of the last eight Asian Games titles in this event. The won they did not win in the last eight tries was Asami Kitagawa of Japan’s gold from 2006. Suzuki won Japan’s first 100 breast gold since those Games, and it is their ninth total Asian Games gold medal in the women’s 100 breast.
Suzuki joins the likes of Yoshiko Takamatsu (1958), Noriko Yamamoto (1962), Yoshiko Morizane (1966), Hitomi Tanigami (1970), Toshiko Haruoka (1974), Chieko Watanabe (1978), Hiroko Nagasaki (1982) and Kitagawa (2006) as Japanese gold medalists at the Asian Games.
China’s Yu Jingyao (1:07.44), Korea’s Kim Hyejin (1:08.34), Hong Kong’s Jamie Yeung (1:08.75), Korea’s Back Suyeon (1:08.83) and Malaysia’s Jinq En Phee (1:09.01) also competed in the final.
- Satomi Suzuki, JPN, 1:06.40, Games Record
- Reona Aoki, JPN, 1:06.45
- Shi Jinglin, CHN, 1:07.36
- Yu Jingyao, CHN, 1:07.44
- Kim Hyejin, KOR, 1:08.34
- Jamie Yeung, HKG, 1:08.75
- Back Suyeon, KOR, 1:08.83
- Jinq En Phee, MAS, 1:09.01
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Lilly King, USA, 1:05.44, Pan Pacs
- Yulia Efimova, RUS, 1:05.53, Europeans
- Jessica Hansen, AUS, 1:06.20, Pan Pacs
- Ruta Meilutyte, LTU, 1:06.26, Europeans
- Reona Aoki, JPN, 1:06.34, Pan Pacs
- Satomi Suzuki, JPN, 1:06.40, Asian Games
- Tatjana Schoenmaker, RSA, 1:06.41, Commonwealth Games
- Bethany Galat, USA, 1:06.41, Pan Pacs
Men’s 200 Fly
Daiya Seto of Japan continued Japan’s hot streak in the 200 fly at the Asian Games with his 1:54.53 on Sunday night in Jakarta, Indonesia. Seto finished 1-2 with Japanese teammate Nao Horomura who was a 1:55.58, much faster than he went at Pan Pacs earlier this month.
Seto defended his title from 2014 and is just the third swimmer to defend the 200 fly title at the Asian Games, joining China’s Wu Peng (2002, 2006) and Japan’s Yasuhiro Komazaki (1970, 1974) as two-time winners.
The early leader in the final was Li Zhuhao of China, who ended up in the third spot at 1:55.76. Li is one of the favorites to win the 100 fly later in the week. All top three finishers placed in the top eight in the Virtual World Championships with times compiled from all four major meets this summer.
China’s Wang Zhou (1:56.75), India’s Sajan Prakash (1:57.75), Singapore’s Zheng Quah (1:57.95), Taipei’s Wang Kuanhung (1:58.63) and Korea’s Park Junghun (1:58.67) also swam in the final.
Seto joins a long list of names who won the Asian Games gold for Japan in the 200 fly. Japan has now won 13 gold medals in this event. Seto joins the likes of Takashi Ishimoto (1958), Kenzo Izutsu (1962), Yasuo Takada (1966), Komazaki (1970, 1974), Shinsuke Kayama (1978), Taihei Saka (1982), Hiroshi Sato (1986), Kunio Sugimoto (1990), Takashi Yamamoto (1998) and Takeshi Matsuda (2010) as gold medalists for Japan.
- Daiya Seto, JPN, 1:54.53
- Nao Horomura, JPN, 1:55.58
- Li Zhuhao, CHN, 1:55.76
- Wang Zhou, CHN, 1:56.75
- Sajan Prakash, IND, 1:57.75
- Zheng Quah, SIN, 1:57.95
- Wang Kuanhung, TPE, 1:58.63
- Park Junghun, KOR, 1:58.67
Virtual World Championships
- Kristof Milak, HUN, 1:52.79, Europeans
- Chad Le Clos, RSA, 1:54.00, Commonwealth Games
- Daiya Seto, JPN, 1:54.34, Pan Pacs
- Tamas Kenderesi, HUN, 1:54.36, Europeans
- Leonardo De Deus, BRA, 1:54.89, Pan Pacs
- Zach Harting, USA, 1:55.05, Pan Pacs
- Nao Horomura, JPN, 1:55.58, Asian Games
- Li Zhuhao, CHN, 1:55.76, Asian Games
Women’s 4×100 Free Relay
Japan closed out the first night of swimming with three straight gold medals with the women taking the 4×100 free relay Games Record in the process. The team of Rikako Ikee (53.60), Natsumi Sakai (54.81), Tomomi Aoki (54.21) and Chihiro Igarashi (53.90) swam a 3:36.52 for a new Games Record, breaking the 3:36.88 set by China from 2010.
China finished second in the final here with a 3:36.78. They had a pretty young team with a 15-year-old and 16-year-old on their relay. Zhu Menghui (54.00), Wu Yue (54.67), Wu Qingfeng (54.43) and Yang Junxuan (53.68) swam for the Chinese to get the silver medal. Both teams placed sixth and seventh in the Virtual World Championships after all the major meets this summer.
Hong Kong finished with the bronze medal at 3:41.88 with Camille Cheng (54.98), Stephanie Au (55.60), Hoi Tam (56.05) and Hang Yu Sze (55.25) swimming for them. It is their first swimming medal of the Games thus far.
This is the first time Japan has dethroned China in this relay at the Asian Games since 1994 and it is Japan’s tenth gold medal in the relay at the Games. The 2018 team joined the relays from (1954-1982 and 1994) as gold medalists.
- Japan, 3:36.52 (Ikee, Sakai, Aoki, Igarashi)
- China, 3:36.78 (Zhu, Wu, Wu, Yang)
- Hong Kong, 3:41.88 (Cheng, Au, Tam, Sze)
- Singapore, 3:44.21 (Chan, Gan, Ho, Chue)
- Thailand, 3:45.93 (Sathianchokwisan, Sapianchai, Srisa Ard, Junkrajang)
- Korea, 3:48.76 (Ko, Kim, Choi, Park)
- Indonesia, 3:51.32 (Krisdewanti, Dewi, Dewi, Hapsari)
- Macau, 3:57.65 (Tang, Vong, Lei, Long)
2018 Virtual World Championships
- Australia, 3:30.05, Commonwealth Games
- United States, 3:33.45, Pan Pacs
- Canada, 3:33.92, Commonwealth Games
- France, 3:34.65, Europeans
- Netherlands, 3:34.77, Europeans
- Japan, 3:36.52, Asian Games
- China, 3:36.78, Asian Games
- Great Britain, 3:37.26, Europeans
