Chinese Water Games 1: Zhang Fenglin, Gao Chang, Zhu Qianwei, Wang Xiangcheng and Li Xuanxu won with fast times

After 3 days of competitions, the 1st swimming NR was broken after the post-shiny suit era. Zhang Fenglin set men's 200m back NR in 1:57.86, 5/100th faster than than Ouyang Kinpeng's old mark. Zhang comes from the same province as the ex-AR holder of this event, Fu Yong, has been NG champion (at 1:58.17), National champion in April (at 1:58.24). He is the 2nd Chinese to break 1:58 mark after Ouyang. Another Chinese, Diao Jigong, also swam a swift 1:58.81 in recent World military swimming championships last month. Diao was national champion at 1:59.29 in April, 2009. It is good to see some improvements in Chinese men's backstroke which is relatively weak. On the other hand, women's 50m back world no. 1 was returned to Gao Chang at 27.54.

This meet also featured the 2nd textile 1:56 mark in Chinese women's 200m free after Lu Bin set back in 1994 (at 1:56.89). Zhu Qianwei recovered from low fever and swam 1:56.93. Surprisingly, Tang Yi was still doing well after a packed schedule of competitions. She won 6 events in Youth Olympics and now she swam another 1:57 which has been her 3rd 1:57 this year (April Nationals, Mare Monstrum, and now). She also swam a 25.11 in 50m free yesterday, her pb in textile but only settled for second behind Li Zheshi, 15 of age, who did a fast 24.92. Jiao Liuyang also got a strong in this event with 25.15, also pb. She was also invincible in her main events, winning both 100m and 200m fly in swift 57.7 and 2:5.6, respectively.

First day also featured a top 10 swim from men when Wang Chengxian from Shandong did a 4:13.09 in 400m IM, defeating the current NR holder, Huang Chaosheng by more than 1sec. Huang repeated his time in April Nationals for 2nd (4:14.75). On the women side, Li Xuanxu is still dominant in 400m IM as she did a 4:35. She also won 400m free in 4:05, 4 sec faster than 2nd swimmer.

However, Chen Qian, swimmer from Shangdong province, who set 2 ARs last year in the women 400m and 800m free, has performed under par so far. She did a modest 1:59.25 in 200m free and then a slow 4:17 in 400m free. Don't know if this is case this time: National Games champions in women 400 and 800m free have been all shooting stars. Take a look of these winners: 1993: Zhou Guanbin; 1997: Chen Yan; 2001: Zhang Liang, 2005: Yang Jieqiao and 2009: Chen Qian. All these swimmers achieved top ranked marks in both events in their winning year but almost no one (except one) can improve their time after this. Zhou was one of the 7 swimmers who was tested positive in 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. She did improve in Asian Games but the times were not counted. Chen did a previous AR 4:05.00/8:27.94 in 1997 and won World title in 4:06 next year. Since then, she seldom swam these events and she achieved no international success after 1998 Worlds. Zhang Liang in 2001 achieved a world no. 1 mark in 400m free at 4:06.97. She is definitely a dark horse and the biggest shooting star ever. She still managed a 55s in 100m free the next year but almost disappeared after 2002. 4 years later, Yang Jieqiao won another double in 2005 with relatively slow times (4:07.54 and 8:29). She was still able to maintain that form until 2007. In that year, her 800m time had improved to 8:26 but she did not go to Worlds. According to a media report, she was having a surgery before Worlds 2007 due to a "female problem". Somehow, in late 2007 and early 2008, she decided to switch to open water and it seemed that she had qualified for the Olympics. Finally, she did not compete. She was competitng the 2009 National Games but could no longer make a big wave in the pool when a new dark horse, Chen Qian, was born, packing 2 ARs away. One controversy around Yang is that the one behind Yang may be coach Zhou Ming, who was notorious during 1990s for the drug issues in China and by right, he should not be involved in any form of coaching. Anyway, Yang has not been doing so well in recent years and only managed a 2:02 in 200m free and 4:20 in 400m free in Chinese aquatics games. If you don't try to spot her, you may not know she is still around the scene. Will Chen Qian be another sinking dark horse?

Finally, Sun Yang raced his 1st men's 400m free in 2010 and did a 3:45, which is the 3rd fastest in the world. Zhang Lin and Sun will definitely having a good fight with the reigning Asian Games champion, Park Tae Hwan. With Matsuda from Japan, it will be a world class field in coming Asian Games, featuring world no. 1-2-3 and 6th.

Chinese swimming and athletics team for YOG

Swimming:

Tang Yi (SH): 50, 100 and 200m free
50m free
2009 NCC: 25.33
2009 NG: 24.81
2009 EAG: 25.49 (silver)
2010 NCC: 25.62 (3rd)
100m free
2008 NC (winter): 55.80
2007 CG: 55.41
2008 NC (summer): 54.82
2009 NCC: 54.88
2009 NG: 53.88 (3rd)
2009 EAG: 54.82 (silver)
2010 NCC: 54.72 (1st)
200m free
2006 AG: 2:00.18 (r)
2007: 2:00.39
2008 NC (summer): 2:00.15
2009 NG: 1:58.00
2009 NC (summer): 1:56.82 (1st, Jaked)
2010 NCC: 1:57.86 (1st)
2010 Barcelona: 1:57.64 (1st)

Bai Anqi (ZJ): 100 and 200m back
100m
2006 NCC: 1:02.42
2008 NC (winter): 1:02.69
2009 NG: 1:01.06 (sf)
2010 NCC: 1:01.26
200m
2006 AG: 2:12.63
2007 NCC: 2;15.21
2008 NC (winter): 2:11.62
2009 NCC: 2:09.79 (3rd)
2009 NG: 2:08.40 (2nd)
2009 EAG: 2:09.54 (silver)
2010 NCC: 2:08.82 (1st)

Liu Lan (GD): 100 and 200m fly
50m
2009 YAG: 27.33 (gold)
2010 NCC: 27.26
100m
2008 NCC: 1:01.65 (h)
2009 YAG: 1:00.76 (Bronze)
2009 NG: 58.88 (sf)
2010 NCC: 59.30
200m
2008 NC (summer): 2:15.50 (h)
2009 YAG: 2:14.13 (gold)
2009 NG: 2:10.27
2009 NCC: 2:09.32
2010 NCC: 2:11.13
2010 PG: 2:10.21

Wang Chang (HLJ): 100 and 200m breaststroke
50m:
2009 YAG: 31.80 (gold)
100m
2008 NCC: 1:11.74 (h)
2009 NC (spring): 1:10.77
2009 YAG: 1:12.37 (Bronze)
2009 NG: 1:11.13 (h)
200m
2008 NC (winter): 2:37.12
2009 YAG: 2:36.38 (Bronze)
2009 NG: 2:40.08

Wang Ximing (BJ): 100m breastroke
50m: 29.28
100m:
2008 NC (spring): 1:08.48 (h)
2009 NG: 1:03.83 (h)
2009 YAG: 1:04.45 (gold)

Dai Jun (SH): 200 and 400m free
200m
2008 NC (winter): 1:54.06
2009 NG: 1:49.23 (sf)
2010 NCC: 1:50.02
400m
2008 NC (summer): 3:57.52
2009 NG: 3:48.59 (3rd)
2010 NCC: 3:48.46 (2nd)
1500m free
2008 NC (winter): 15:24.83
2009 NCC: 15:08.45
2009 NG: 14:59.25 (2nd)
2010 NCC: 15:06.17 (2nd)

Sun Bowei (HeN): 50 and 100m fly
100m
2008 NC: 56.14 (sf)
2009 NG: 53.86
2010 NCC: 54.06

He Jianbin (GD): 50 and 100m free and 100m back
50m free
2010 Barcelona: 23.27
100m free
2008 NCC: 51.19 (h)
2009 NG: 50.16
2010 NCC: 50.62
100m back
2008 NC (summer): 57.03
2009 NCC: 55.69 (3rd)
2009 NG: 55.42 (3rd), 55.31 (h), 54.95 (r)
2009 WC: 55.24 (h)
2010 AC: 54.84 (gold)
2010 NCC: 55.39 (2nd)
2010 Monaco: 56.28

National youth athletics championships: Wrapped up

In the final day of the competition, Lu Shangbin from Jiangsu completed a 100m (10.62s, on day 1)/200m (20.99, +0.6m/s) double win. Last month, Lu won the men's 200m in the National Grand Prix final with a pb of 20.74s when competiting with the seniors. On the youth level, he is apparently invincible beating the closest opponent by almost 0.7s. Teng Haining who set the domestic lead in men's 800m in the heat won the final in 1:50.12 without any resistance. Later, he won 1500m in group 1 in 3:54.80 but was exceeded by the group 2 winner, Jiang Jianxiao from Gansu province by 0.36s. On the women's side, Lu Yumei from Jiangsu won 200m in 24.31s. Notable results came from women's javelin when He Daixian from Hunan and Jin Pingping from Tianjin finished top 2 with a pair of tight throws of 50.75m and 50.20m, respectively.

Chinese Youth Athletics championships (Day1 and 2)

Some fine results from the National Youth (16-17yo ) Athletics championships. Chu Pengfei from Heilongjiang had a strong showing with a 13.25s in 110m hurdle (0.914m), winning over another promising youngster from Shanghai, Lu Jiateng. Teng Haining who has won the heat in men's 1500m on day 1 won another heat in 800m with a Chinese domestic lead, 1:50.07, better than previous mark 1:50.08.

W100m, +0.4m/s
Ye Jiabei (Zhejiang) 11.75

W100m H
Wang Dou (Jiangsu) 13.56

M110m H (0.914m), -0.4m/s
Chu Pengfei (Heilongjiang) 13.25 (13.31h, +0.3m/s)
Lu Jiateng (Shanghai) 13.43
Chen Shuyan (Jiangsu) 13.53

M800m heat
Teng Haining (Liaoning) 1:50.07 (Chinese domestic lead)

WDT
Gu Siyu (Army) 53.17m

Hao Yun produced 15:18 in Los Angeles US GP

A relatively unknown 15-year-old youngster Hao Yun from Hebei swam a 15:18.75 in men's 1500m free on Jul 11 in the US Grand Prix held in Los Angeles. He also placed third in the competition behind sub-15 swimmer, Cohrane from Canada. He could be another promising long distance free swimmer from China after Zhang Lin and Sun Yang. Hao could be representing the 1st Youth Olympics in August since he was selected in the 2009 Youth Olympics training camp. Jiao Liuyang and Chen Yin were both in action too with 2 wins in their pet events, women and men's 200m fly in 2:08.40 and 1:56.93 on Jul 10, respectively. Wu Peng who is training in US, was not seen in this meet.

Some fine swimming results produced in 13th Guangdong Provincial Games 2010

Some fine results in swimming event from 13th Guangdong provincial Games

Jul9
Women A 400m IM
Xue Jiao 4:47.90 (Xue is National Champion in 2009)

Women A 200m butterfly
Sun Mengyue 2:08.66
Liu Lan 2:10.21 (Liu is top 8 in China in this event)

Jul10
Women A 200m breaststroke
Li Qing 2:28.69

Women A 100m butterfly
Liu Lan 59.41
Sun Mengyue 59.55

Jul 11
Women A 200m IM
Xue Jiao 2:14.72

My top event-by-event athletes in Chinese track and field from 2000-2010

It comes to 2010 and it's time to select my top athletes in Chinese track and field. I don't want to just pick 10 top athletes but would rather select fine athletes event-by-event who has impact in the domestic or even international scene. Definitely, international meet results are taken into main consideration. If there is not, like those men's long distance running, I will choose those who have been dominating in the domestic competitions. Here you go:

Men
100m: Chen Haijian, Hu Kai, Zhang Peimeng
200m: Yang Yaozu, Xu Zizhou
400m: Xu Zizhou, Liu Xiaosheng, Wang Liangyu
800m: Li Xiangyu, Li Huiquan (ban)
1500m: Dou Zhaobo, Gu Ming, Yang Weizhe
5000m: Dou Zhaobo, Lin Xiangqian
10000m: Ren Longyuan
3000m SC: Lin Xiangqian, Sun Wenyong
Marathon: Ren Longyuan, Han Gang
110m H: Liu Xiang, Shi Dongpeng
400m H: Meng Yan, Zhang Shibao
HJ: Huang Haiqiang, Zhang Shufeng
PV: Liu Feiliang, Yang Yansheng, Zhang Hongwei
TJ: Li Yanxi, Zhu Shujing, Gu Junjie
LJ: Li Jinzhe, Xu Xiongfeng, Zhang Xiaoyi, Zhou Can, Li Runrun
SP: Zhang Jun, Zhang Qi
JT: Li Rongxiang, Chen Qi, Qin Qiang
DT: Li Shaojie, Wu Tao
HT: Ma Liang, Ye Kuigang
Dec: Qi Haifeng
20km walk: Wang Hao, Zhu Hongjun, Yu Chaohong
50km walk: Han Yucheng, Yu Chaohong, Zhao Chengliang

Li Jinzhe 8.29m in Eugene, Lu Minjia at 6.79m, both wind-aided.

Asian champion, Li Jinzhe from Beijing leapt a wind-aided 8.29m in Eugene 2 days ago while 17-year-old Lu Minjia from Zhejiang had a wind-aided jump (2.2m/s) of 6.79m last month in Chaoqing. Both backed up with strong performances from last year. Li was at 8.01m in World Champs, 8.18m in National Games, 8.08m in Asian Champs while Lu at 6.74m in National Games. Men's long jump looks bright for China to regain Asian Games title since 1994. In Eugene, Li also had a legal 8.12m jump equalling the Asian best this year set by another Chinese, Yu Zhenwei. Backed with Su Xiongfeng who set an Asian Indoor record of 8.27m this year and already a 8m+ performer outdoor in this season, Chinese men's long jump has been reviving. Women side also looks improving: 3-4 jumpers have been on 6.50m this year which appears far better than the previous years.

Li Yanfeng on 65.20m

After sending a world no. 1 in women's discus throw (66.40m) last year in national Games, Li Yanfeng from Heilongjiang has shown good form by throwing 65.20m yesterday in Suzhou national GP.

Chinese nationals: Day 2 final

W100m free
In the absence of Li Zheshi from Liaoning and big sister, Pang Jiaying who skipped the final, Tang Yi dominated the field in the 100m free final and swam the only sub-55s time (54.72). Without sprinters Li and Wang Junyao in the team, Wang Shijia helped Liaoning gain one more silver. 400m medley bronze medalist, Ye Shiwen took bronze with 55.38. The time is considered slow, partly due to the change of the swimsuit. Same happened in Australia when only Seebhom got below 55s (54.70) in the nationals. Pang has been nuturing her injuries in lower back after National Games and only started training in January. When asked about retirement like those who are as old as her, she replied that she is still at the peak of her career, based on her recent results and she wants to contribute more for both the provincial team and the national team. She said she won't consider retirement unless the younger generation is reliable to pass her baton over.

1. Tang Yi (Shanghai) 54.72
2. Wang Shijia (Liaoning) 55.20
3. Ye Shiwen (Zhejiang) 55.38

M400m IM
NR holder, 18 yo Huang Chaosheng won in 4:14.25, current 3rd best time this year. It's a repeat of National Games that both men and women 400m IM were won by Hunan swimmers. Li Xuexu just blasted a World no. 1 time on the 1st day and now Huang won again. Huang was about 1.5 second slower than his NR. National Games 3rd and 4th placer, Li Xiang and Wang Chengxiang switched places but both swam way slower than the times they swam in National games (4:15.74 and 4:16.42, respectively).

1. Huang Chaosheng (Hunan) 4:14.25
2. Wang Chengxiang (Shandong) 4:18.48
3. Li Xiang (Tianjin) 4:20.17

W50m fly
Jiao Liuyang has no challenge in China with a easy win at 26.52s.

1. Jiao Liuyang (Guangzhou army) 26.52
2. Lin Shuyuan (Zhejiang) 26.80
3. Guo Fan (Heilongjiang) 26.94

M50m free
A tight competition here with all top 3 were separated within 0.1s. 2nd in the heat, Zhou Jiawei was injuried her ankle on the block and finished last. The final champion is Shi Tengfei, who won in 22.80. After race, he felt lucky to win since 100m is more his main event. All the top three from the National Games last year were not able to finish top three here (Cai Li, You Tianyu and Huang Shaohua). The times are comparatively slow but normal, compared with the pre-plastic suit era.

1. Shi Tengfei (Beijing) 22.80
2. Lu Zhiwu (Zhejiang) 22.82
3. Shi Yang (Shanghai) 22.89

M 4x200m free
Shanghai, once again, won the event after winning national game title.

1. Shanghai 7:21.74
2. Tianjin 7:24.42
3. Liaoning 7:33.92

W800m free
Li Xuanxu blasted out another top time with 8:24.10, 3rd in the world this year and her pb. It was her 3rd season at 8:24 and 4th season of sub-8:30 The 2nd swimmer behind Li was Zhou Lili who was more than 10s back. Li Limeng was at 8:29 last year and was at 8:37 this time. In the interview, she did not seem to care too much about the ranking she has achieved thus far and Chinese media had a hard time to get any words from Li, who wears a skin head. She said she was sick before the meets and only ok with her own performance.

1. Li Xuanxu (HUnan) 8:24.10
2. Zhou Lili (Shanghai) 8:35.32
3. Li Limeng (Tianjin) 8:37.16

Chinese nationals: Day 2 morning heats

Morning heats

W100m free
Zhejiang rising star, 14-year-old Ye Shiwen (born in March 01, 1996), qualified 1st in 100m free after finishing 3rd in 400m IM last night. Both Tang Yi and Pang Jiaying also qualified. Formerly known from Shanxi province and now representing Liaoning, Wang Shijia also did what as expected to capture the 3rd spot.

1. Ye Shiwen (Zhejiang) 55.63
2. Tang Yi (Shanghai) 55.68
3. Wang Shijia (Liaoning) 55.72
7. Pang Jiaying (Shanghai) 56.48

M400m IM
National Games champion and NR holder, Huang Chaosheng topped in the heats with a moderate 4:21.37. National Games 3rd and 4th place moved up to 2nd and 3rd spot in the absence of the former NR holder, Liu Weijia from Liaoning.

1. Huang Chaosheng (Hunan) 4:21.37
2. Li Xiang (Tianjin) 4:22.55
3. Wang Chengxiang (Shandong) 4:22.87

W50m fly
Little known Liu Shuyuan captured the lane 4 in the final tonight with 27.25. Fast improver Guo Fan from the far north came in 2nd and Asian youth games champion, Liu Lan was 3rd. Jiao Liuyang won 200m fly in the opening night and did not go as fast.

1. Lin Shuyuan (Zhejiang) 27.25
2. Guo Fan (Heilongjiang) 27.38
3. Liu Lan (Guangdong) 27.48
4. Jiao Liuyang (Guangzhou army/Heilongjiang) 27.50

M50m free
Most of the top free sprinters in China qualified for the final with Shi swimming lane 4 tonight in 22.91, the only sub-23s this morning. Zhou Jiawei has not been swimming this event for a long time and qualified for the 2nd spot. Surprisingly, National Games champion, Cai Li and NR holder Lu Zhiwu were not in top 3.

1. Shi Yang (Shanghai) 22.91
2. Zhou Jiawei (Guangdong) 23.03
3. Lu Zhiwu (Zhejiang) 23.09

M4x200m free
1. Shandong 7:38.84
2. Tianjin 7:39.71
3. Liaoning 7:39.91

Chinese Nationals: Day 1

W50m breaststroke

Reigning champion and Asian record holder Chen Huijia (30.46) from Zhejiang (same as Luo Xuejuan) won the event easily. Another rising star from Navy after Qi Hui, Zhang Hongtao was 2nd and 1:07 swimmer in 100m breaststrok, Liu Xiaoyu took bronze. Surprisingly, Shanghai beauty, Ji Liping, who normally does well in the sprinting, was not in the top 3. Not sure if she is in the race.

Ji Liping (Shanghai)

1. Chen Huijia (Zhejiang) 31.21


2. Zhang Hongtao (Navy) 31.68 (31.47p)


3. Liu Xianyu (Liaoning) 31.76





M200m free


Undoubtly, Zhang Lin is unchallenged in China. Jiang Haiqi regains his momentum to place 2nd after losing out the podium in the national games. Zhang Enjian, also gradually regains his peak 1:48 form from 2007 and took 3rd.





1. Zhang Lin (Beijing) 1:47.54 (1:49.26p)


2. Jiang Haiqi (Shanghai) 1:49.25 (1:51.26p)


3. Zhang Enjian (Tianjin) 1:49.61 (1:51.20p)





M100m back


Almost a repeat of the podium positions from last year meet. Reigning champion, Cheng Feiyi who won at 54.99 last year, captured the title again at 55.24. Asian champion in this event, He Jianbin, placed 3rd. Diao Jigong, 200m back champion last year, took 2nd.





1. Cheng Feiyi (Liaoning) 55.24


2. Diao Jigong (Navy) 55.39


3. He Jianbin (Guangdong) 55.67

Huang Liang (Navy) 56.15p




M100m breaststroke


NR holder Zhang Guoying (1:01.15 in 2009) and 1:01.2 swimmer Wang Shuai once again had another clash after a series of head-to-head competitions last year (World championships, national games, East Asian Games and Asian Championships) and Wang won by 0.17s this time. Lai Zhongjian, a 2004 Olympic and world championship semifinalist and a former 200m breaststroke NR holder, took 3rd with a pb of 1:02.02.





1. Wang Shuai (Beijing) 1:01.77


2. Zhang Guoying (Guangdong) 1:01.94


3. Lai Zhongjian (Navy/Guangxi) 1:02.02 (1:02.14p)





W200m fly


There seems to be no effect on Jiao Liuyang after the plastic suit took off when she won her pet event at 2:5.46, similar to what she did last year. Liu Zige was not in the race. National Games 3rd placer, Gong Jie, who trains with Jiao in the same team, got 2nd and Hebei's Ha Sinan also performed consistently and did a fine time of 2:9.55. After the race, Jiao said her body is not considered "a very heavy type" so the plastic suit would not do much effect on her.





1. Jiao Liuyang (Guangzhou army/Heilongjiang) 2:5.46 (2:11.91p)


2. Gong Jie (Guangzhou army) 2:8.12 (2:10.24p)


3. Ha Sinan (Hebei) 2:9.55

4. Deng Biying (Hubei) 2:9.73





M100m fly


Zhou Jiawei pulled out last year due to a back injury but won today at a fine 52.61, compared with NR at 51.24 last year. This could be his last season of his career. He wants to qualify for Asian Games which holds in his home province, Guangdong. 200m fly specialist, Chen Yin, also a world championships finalist in 2007, placed 2nd and National Game 3rd placer in 200m fly, Chen Weiwu, was third. 2008 Olympic semifinalist, Shi Feng, only took 6th.





1. Zhou Jiawei (Guangdong) 52.61


2. Chen Yin (Hebei) 53.44


3. Chen Weiwu (Shandong) 53.66


6. Shi Feng (Shanghai) 54.33

Sun Bowei (Henan) 54.24p



W400m IM


Asian record holder, 16-year-old, Li Xuanxu, is still in the top form who won at 4:34.59, faster than the former non-plastic suit Area record set by Chen Yan in 1997 (4:34.79). Having been a double Olympic finalist in 2008 (400m IM and 800m free), Li has been a consistent sub 4-40 swimmer since 2007 but she had only raced in 2 international meets so far (Olympics 2008 and Japan Open 2007). The level of competition is really high this time when all top 3 swam below 4:38. Zhejiang seems to do much better in the IM events with 2 swimmers in the top 3.





1. Li Xuanxu (Hunan) 4:34.59


2. Zheng Rongrong (Zhejiang) 4:37.68


3. Ye Shiwen (Zhejiang) 4:37.97 (4:42.03p)





W100m back


A repeat of medalists from National Game but the champion switched to Gao Chang who scored a sizzling 55.6-55.7 in shortcourse in Japan open earlier in Feb. Zhao Jing, Asian record holder at 58.96, just had an nasal operation not very long ago. It is expected not to have a fast time in this meet since she is in the midst of recovering. Zhou Yanxin, also a sub 1:00 swimmer, was a distant 3rd.





1. Gao Chang (Shandong) 59.69


2. Zhao Jing (Hubei) 1:00.06 (1:1.46p)


3. Zhou Yanxin (Shanghai) 1:00.98





W4x200m free

After retirement of Xu Yanwei and Zhu Yingwen, both core members in the national team over years, Shanghai 4x200m team does not seem to be affected much with new blood like Tang Yi and Zhu Qianwei who are already at 1:56-1:57 and veteran Pang, Asian holder at 1:55.05.
1. Shanghai (Tang Yi, Lu Ying, Zhu Qianwei, Pang Jiaying) 8:01.88


2. Shandong 8:03.90


3. Beijing 8:05.50





M4x100m free


1. Guangdong 3:21.71


2. Jiangsu 3:24.43


3. Zhejiang 3:24.50

Retired swimmers after national games

Women's free
Zhu Yingwen
Yang Yu

Women's breaststroke
Qi Hui

Women's backsroke
Zhan Shu

Women's fly
Zhou Yafei

Men's IM
Zhao Tao

Chinese spring national championshipps postponed til tomorrow

Chinese Spring nationals ("National champion meet") will only start tomorrow due to today's natiaonal mourning for the Apr 14 Earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai province. No entertainment events are allowed today. Furthermore, the competition schedule will be shortened and Olympic champion, Liu Zige won't be competiting, according to her coach, Jin Wei who accompanied his another swimmer, Shi Feng, the fly specialist, in Shaoxing for the meet. Liu is currently training in Shanhai gate (Near Great wall area). She and her coach donated RMB200,000 for the earthquake relief. Double world silver medalist, Wu Peng, is currently training in the US and won' t be here.

There will still be a stardom in these competitions including Zhang Lin (world champion in men's 800m free), Zhao Jing (world champion in women's 50m back), Jiao Liuyang (Olympic silver medalist in women's 200m fly), Gao Chang (World championships bronze medalist in women's 50m back) and Zhou Jiawei (men's 50m fly Asian record holder). By the way, Qi Hui, former women's 200m breaststroke WR holder finally made her decision to retire after a long career of 12 years since 1998 Asian Games. Yang Yu, a triple LC world champ. medalist in women's 200m free and a two-time SC world champion in 200m free, also moved on after National Games but Olympic bronze medalist, Pang Jiaying, who is at the same age as Yang, will still stay in the pool for another Olympic cycle. Another notable retiree includes 29-year-old veteran swimmer, Zhu Yingwen, 2005 World bronze medalist in women's 50m free. She has been suffering from the hip dislocation throughout her career and one time she needed to snap her hip back in the midst of the race. Hope all these great swimmers have great futures.

11-year old talent selected to Chinese swimming national team

A news report a couple days ago described a 11-year old girl named Li Terter who has been starring in a number of movies and TV drama and now becomes one in the Chinese swimming team training under Han Bingyan, who has a IM World champion, Chen Yan and a World championships 200m breaststroke finalist, Luo Nan under his belt. According to the report, she had an experience of acting with Tony Leung Ka Fai, a veteran HK actor who was featuring in French moive, L'amant (or The Lover ) in 1992. at 11, She stands at 1.63m and holds a feet size of 39 (??). She has not received any high-volume training but already shown her talent in the swimming competition of her age in Chongqing city (Chongqing = Chungking (express), the movie from Wang Kar Wei) where the swimmer team no longer exists. Her coach and the leaders from the city sports council noticed her great talent and took her to Beijing probing her way into the probation training in the national team. When the Chinese national head coach, Yao Zhenjie saw them, he immediately suggested her to go back first and only train with the team during the school holidays. However, when he saw her in the splash and her great physical conditions (feet and hand size), he changed his mind. Her coach in Chongqing city gave an explanation on Li's case that Yao deceided to take her in because Li is like a unpolished jade in swimming that she has not received any high-volume training and she cannot even do any chin-ups due to her undeveloped physical strength but she has shown very convincing talent in swimming.