2021 Chinese Summer Nats Day 3: Ye Shiwen, Ge Chutong Both Miss 200 IM OLY Cut

2021 CHINESE SUMMER NATIONALS

• May 31 – June 6, 2021
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Olympic Qualifying Meet
• Results via @CHNswim_fan On Twitter

Continuing the trend for day 1 and day 2 of the meet, day 3 of the 2021 Chinese Summer Nationals has produced no new Olympic qualifiers for the country. As swimmers contested the women’s 200 free and 200 IM, and the men’s 200 fly and 800 free, no one swam under the FINA A standard in any of their respective events.

One of the biggest names to miss out on a spot today was 2012 Olympic champion in the 200 IM Ye Shiwen. Shiwen was a bit off her season-best to take silver in the event with a 2:13.86 to Ge Chutong‘s 2:13.21 and both missed the FINA A cut of 2:12.56.

Women’s 200 Freestyle – Final

• Fina ‘A’ cut: 1:57.28
• Chinese National Record: 1:54.70* – Yang Junxuan (2021)

Top 3:

1. Dong Jie 1:58.31
2. Qiu Yuhan 1:58.51
3. Wang Jianjiahe 1:58.86

The women’s 200 freestyle produced no new qualifiers for the Olympics as Dong Jie took gold with a 1:58.31 which is just over a second slower than the 1:57.28 FINA A required. Further, it would likely take an even faster time than the FINA A to qualify considering that Yang Junxuan and Li Bingjie swam 1:54.57 and 1:56.64 at the recent Olympic Trials meet, thus earning a spot on the team. That swim for Junxuan was actually a new Chinese and Asian record in the event.

While no individual Olympic spots were claimed here, there is the potential for relay spots to be filled considering that China has qualified to race the women’s 4×200 freestyle in Tokyo. Jie’s winning 1:58.31 along with Qiu Yuhan‘s 1:58.51 and Wang Jianjiahe‘s 1:58.86 should put them in consideration, along with Tang Muhan who hit a 1:57.83 at the first Trials meet. While she missed the 200 free time, Jianjiahe will still be making the trip to Tokyo as she has qualified to swim the 800 and 1500 freestyles already.

Men’s 200 Butterfly – Final

• Fina ‘A’ cut: 1:56.48
• Chinese National Record: 1:54.35 – Wu Peng (2008)

Top 3:

1. Wang Zhou 1:58.76
2. Wang Yifei 1:58.78
3. Wang Xizhe 2:00.02

This marked the second straight Trials meet for China where no men managed to crack the FINA A standard in the men’s 200 fly. Wang Zhou swam a 1:58.76 to earn gold but was a few seconds shy of the 1:58.76 FINA A standard.

Wang Yifei followed Zhou closely with a 1:58.78 for silver while Wang Xizhe rounded out the podium in a 2:00.02.

At the last Trials meet, Chen Juner got the closest to qualifying with a 1:56.77 which is within 0.30 of the 1:56.48 FINA A standard. There, Wang Yifei actually got a bit closer to the cut last month than he did this time around, hitting a 1:57.38 for silver.

Women’s 200 IM – Final

• Fina ‘A’ cut: 2:12.56
• Chinese National Record: 2:07.57 – Ye Shiwen (2012)

Top 3:

1. Ge Chutong 2:13.21
2. Ye Shiwen 2:13.86
3. Yang Peiqi 2:16.46

As is the case with the women’s 200 freestyle, 2 Chinese women have already qualified to swim the event in Tokyo, having gotten under the FINA A at the first Olympic Trials meet last month. There, Yu Yiting notched a  2:09.64 and Chen Xinyi a 2:11.58, both under the 2:12.56 standard.

That didn’t stop another group of women from attempting to get under the cut this week at Chinese Nationals as Ge Chutong delivered a solid swim of 2:13.21 to take the gold medal. Following her, 2012 Olympic Champion in the event and Chinese record-holder Ye Shiwen swam a 2:13.86 for silver. Yang Peiqi finished in third with a 2:16.46.

Years after taking Olympic gold in 2012, Ye Shiwen made a bit of a comeback and won silver in this event at the 2019 World Championships with a 2:08.60. Shiwen’s 2:13.86 here won’t be enough to get her to Tokyo and she was actually a little bit faster at last month’s meet where she hit a 2:12.57 which was just 0.01 slower than the FINA A cut.

Having also missed the 400 IM standard earlier on in the meet, Shiwen will likely have 1 more shot at qualifying for Tokyo in the form of the 200 breast which will take place on day 5.

Men’s 800 Freestyle – Fast Heat

• Fina ‘A’ cut: 7:54.31
• Chinese National Record: 7:32.12 –Zhang Lin (2009)

1. Cheng Long 8:00.34
2. Ji Xinjie 8:01.17
3. Zhang Ziyang 8:01.49

The men’s 800 freestyle was the exact same here as it was a month ago at the first Olympic Trials meet with Cheng Long taking gold, Ji Xinjie taking silver, and Zhang Ziyang taking bronze.

Long was a little bit slower on his second attempt, swimming an 8:00.34 compared to his previous 7:55.43 from last month. Both swims were quick enough to win gold but not quick enough to get under the FINA A standard which sits at a 7:54.31.

Silver medalist Xinjie was also a bit slower here, posting a 8:01.17 compared to the 7:58.63 he swam in May. Ziyang on the other hand improved from a 8:03.22 to an 8:01.49. While he didn’t qualify here in the 800, Jin Xinjie is already qualified to swim for China at Tokyo 2020 in the 200 freestyle.