Day six finals of the 2016 Chinese Nationals was a session of speed with Xu Jiayu uncorking a world best time in the men’s 200 back.
Yu He Xin continued to show his sprinting capabilities in the men’s 50-meter free by maintaining his spot at the top of the leaderboard with a 22.19 in semi-finals. He succeeded in lowering his prelims time of 22.19 to continue pulling away from the competition.
Following him to the wall was Shi Yang with a time of 22.36, improving upon his 22.70 from prelims. Go Wei posted the third fastest time at a 22.49.
Jinglin Shi threw down the gauntlet in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke, finishing more than six seconds ahead of the competition with a 2:22.98. That time moves her to fourth in the world rankings behind only Rie Kaneto (2:20.04), Yulia Efimova (2:21.41), and Rikke Moeller Pedersen (2:22.83).
He Yun and Viann Zhang battled for second in the 200 breast, finishing a slim .01 seconds apart. Yup got her hands to the wall first to stop the clock at a 2:29.16 over Zhang’s 2:29.17.
The speed of finals continued to build into the men’s 200-meter backstroke where Xu Jiayu torched the field with a final time of 1:54.79. Jiayu’s time rocketed him to first in the world rankings ahead of Mitch Larkin, Ryan Murphy, and Kosuke Hagino and also is a new Chinese National Record.
Following him to the wall were Zhejiang teammates Li Guangyuan (1:56.41) and Shin Yi (1:59.40). Guangyuan’s time moves him to fifth in the world rankings.
The women’s 200-meter back remained a tight field throughout semi-finals with Cheng Haihua leading the charge with a 2:11.15. Grabbing second overall was Xu Hui at a 2:11.70, while Wu Yi Xin delivered a third-place finish of 2:12.16.
Wang Shun dashed ahead of the competition in finals of the men’s 200-meter IM, stopping the clock at a sizzling 1:57.93. Shun’s time rockets him into the top five of the world rankings for 2016. Hu Yixuan grabbed second overall with a time of 2:00.23.
A quad of 54’s highlighted the women’s 100-meter free final, led by Zhumeng Hui of Zhejiang’s 54.19, good for an entry into the lower echelons of the world rankings for 2016. Shen Duo of Jiangsu Province and Yi Tang of Shanghai Hosa dueled for second from lanes three and two. Duo got her hand to the wall first stopping the clock at a 54.71 over Tang’s 54.75. Qiu Yuhan rounded out the quad of 54’s with a final 54.87.
Holding onto his spot at the top of the men’s 100-meter fly was Li Zhuhao who succeeded in lowering his prelims time of 52.55 to a 51.70 in semi’s. Zhuhao’s time moves him up several notches in the world rankings to fourth where he sits behind the likes of Konrad Czerniak (51.30), Laszlo Cseh (51.40), and Jeremy Stravius (51.66).
Zhang Qi Bin moved up in the rankings to grab the second-place seed going into tomorrow’s finals with a 52.87, while Wang Yuxin posted a 53.24 for third.
