Day five finals of the 2016 Chinese Nationals continued with Zhou Yi Lin and Xu Jiayu breaking into the top five of the world rankings in their respective events.
Feilian Mao jumped up to sixth in the world rankings of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke with a quick 2:09.98. Li Xiang snuck up to second from lane six to finish with a time of 2:11.01. Xiang’s time earns him a spot in the lower echelons of the top 20 world rankings for 2016.
This morning’s women’s 100-meter free boasted a tight field with the top qualifiers stopping the clock within .01 seconds of one another. That tight competition continued into semi-finals with multiple athletes dipping below the 55-second mark. Qiu Yuhan moved up to first with a scorching 53.90 to be the only athlete under the 54-second mark. Yuhan’s time earned her ninth in the world rankings for 2016.
Shen Duo of Jiangsu Province and Zhumeng Hui of Zhejiang delivered matching times from separate heats to tie for second going into tomorrow’s finals with a 54.53.
Xu Jiayu maintained his spot at the top of the leaderboard in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke with a scorching 1:56.51. That time moves Jiayu to fourth in the world rankings, behind only Mitch Larkin (1:55.08), Ryan Murphy (1:55.99), and Kosuke Hagino (1:56.10).
Li Guangyuan moved up in the rankings to finish second in semi’s with a 1:58.18, while He Jian rounded out the top three with a 1:59.87. The top three were the only athletes under the 2-minute mark.
Zhou Yi Lin rocketed up to second in the world rankings of the women’s 200-meter fly with a final time of 2:06.56. Yi Lin’s second-ranked time sits only .22 seconds behind top-ranked Mireia Belmonte’s 2:06.34. The top times just kept coming with Zhang Yu Fei of Jiangsu Province earning herself a spot in the world rankings with a sixth ranked 2:07.13. Wang Siqi rounded out the top three with a 2:07.47, just shy of her seventh ranked 2:07.24 from the Aquatic Super Series.
Yu He Xin delivered the top time in the men’s 100-meter free with a final time of 48.47, making him the only athletes under the 49-minute mark. Xin’s time moves him from fifteenth up to eighth in the world rankings for 2016. Lin Yongqing posted the second fastest time of the night with a 48.96 earning him a spot in the lower echelons of the top 20 world rankings. He Jianbin was third with a 49.17.
Yu Jing Yao swam ahead of the competition in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke, stopping the clock at a 2:26.39. Jing Lin of the Jiangsu Province posted the only other time under the 2:30-mark with a final 2:28.24. He Yun narrowly out-touched Sun Minjie for third with a 2:30.30 over Minjie’s 2:30.32.
Jiayu you have as winning the breaststroke, pretty sure you mean backstroke