Zhang Yufei Hits 56.58 100 Butterfly on Day Four of Chinese Spring Champs
The most recent Chinese swimmer to capture an Olympic gold medal was in action on the fourth day of the Chinese Spring Championships. Zhang Yufei, who dominated the 200 fly butterfly at the 2021 Olympics after winning silver in an extremely close 100 butterfly final, put up a strong time in the shorter race Tuesday.
Zhang swam a mark of 56.58, a half-second clear of runnerup Wang Yichun (57.05). Zhang finished about a second off her own best time of 55.62 from the Tokyo Olympics, a final in which she finished only three hundredths shy of gold medalist Maggie Mac Neil. The 24-year-old is the third-fastest performer in history in both the 100 fly and 200 fly, and she earned bronze in all three butterfly races at last year’s World Championships.
In other women’s events, Wang Xueer won the 100 backstroke in 59.61, with Wan Letian and Peng Xuwei finishing just over the 1:00 barrier, while former world-junior-record holder Yu Yiting swam a time of 4:38.15 for a four-second win in the 400 IM. Yang Chang won the 100 breaststroke (1:07.34).
Wang Changhao swam a time of 51.45 for the win in the men’s 100 fly, with Sun Jiajun and Chen Juner also posting 51-second performances, and in the 200 free, 200 IM Olympic gold medalist Wang Shun continued his strong meet. After previously winning the 200 IM, 100 back and 400 IM, he won the four-lap freestyle race with a time of 1:47.15, with Wang Haoyu and Zhang Ziyang tying for second in 1:47.45.
Note: A special thanks to the Chinese Swimming News & Results Twitter feed for publishing results.