2018 Asian Games: Sun Yang & Rikako Ikee To Race On Final Day

SWIMMING AT THE 2018 ASIAN GAMES

• August 19th-24th, 2018
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Schedule & Results

We’re entering the final day of competition at the 2018 Asian Games, with several more races lined up, pitting powerhouses Japan and China against one another right until the end. Big gun Sun Yang will try to complete his quadruple freestyle sweep, having already won the 200m, 400m and 800m golds here in Jakarta. He’ll contest the 1500m free in his quest for 4 golds, dropped down from 6 after China finished 2nd in the men’s 4x100m free and 4x200m free relays.

If Sun is successful, he can win a record-equalling 14th medal in swimming at an Asian Games. He already won the 1500m free at both the 2010 and 2014 edition of the Games.

Also back in the pool with be Chinese breaststroker Yan Zebei, who has notched 2 silvers behind Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki across the 100m and 200m breaststroke races. They’ll try the 50m sprint on for size, where Kazakhstani Olympic champion Dmitriy Balandin may indeed swim his last race before retirement. Of note, IM and butterfly ace Daiya Seto is also slated to be in the men’s 50m breast field.

Japanese gold magnet Rikako Ikee will swim in her final race of these Games, entering the women’s 50m free as the top seed. It’s Ikee’s race to lose, although there are 2 other athletes seeded with 24-point times in China’s Liu Xiang and Wu Qingfeng. If Ikee is able to top the podium, she’ll become the first female swimmer to win the 50m/100m free double at a single Asian Games.

Unless Japan’s Chihiro Igarashi pulls off the swim of her life, China looks to secure 2 additional top tier medals in the women’s 400m free. Wang Jianjie, this meet’s 800m and 1500m free gold medalist here, will attempt the sweep with a win in the 400m free, while Li Bingjie will try to add a 2nd gold to her 200m free victory. Should Wang come out on top, she’d become the 6th Chinese woman to win at least 4 gold medals in swiming at a single Asian Games.

And, in the women’s 200m IM, Korea may get a chance to mine gold, with Kim Seoyeong going head-to-head with Japan’s 400m IM winner Yui Ohashi. The pair’s best times this season are separated by less than half a second.

The men’s 4 x 100m medley relay is on the docket as well.