2023 Asian Games: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

19TH ASIAN GAMES

• Sunday, September 24th – Friday, September 29th (swimming)
• Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena, Hangzhou, China
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Results
• Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Finals Live Recap

DAY 4 FINALS EVENT SCHEDULE

• Women’s 100 Butterfly – Final
• Men’s 100 Butterfly – Final
• Women’s 100 Backstroke – Final
• Men’s 200 Freestyle – Final
• Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Final
• Women’s 400 Individual Medley – Final
• Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay – Final

Day 4 of the 2023 Asian Games has arrived. This evening’s finals session features 7 events, including the 100 fly for both men and women.

Chinese sprint star Zhang Yufei will be kicking off the session tonight in the women’s 100 fly. Yufei cracked the Asian Games Record in the event this morning with a 56.20, marking a very solid prelims swim. She holds the Asian Record in the event at 55.62 and, given her performance this morning, it seems like she may get close to that record tonight.

We’ll also see China’s Pan Zhanle in the men’s 200 free tonight. Zhanle made waves on the first day of the meet when he dipped under 47 seconds in the 100 free. Zhanle then went on to crack 22 seconds in the 50 free two days ago, which made him the first swimmer in history to go under 22 seconds in the 50 free, 47 seconds in the 100 free, and 1:45 in the 200 free. Zhanle will surely have his eyes on Sun Yang’s Asian Record of 1:44.39.

WOMEN’s 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Record: 55.48 – Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (2016)
• Asian Record: 55.62 – Zhang Yufei, China (2020)
• Asian Games Record: 56.20 – Zhang Yufei, China (2023)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Zhang Yufei (China) – 55.86 (Asian Games Record)
• SILVER: Ai Soma (Japan) – 57.57
• BRONZE: Wang Yichun (China) – 57.83

For the second time today, Chinese sprint star Zhang Yufei cracked the Asian Games Record in the women’s 100 fly. After clocking a 56.20 to clip the previous record of 56.30 in prelims, Yufei swam a 55.86 tonight, earning the gold medal by nearly two seconds. Yufei was just off her own Asian Record of 55.62, which she set almost 3 years ago to the day on September 29, 2020.

Tonight, Yufei showed off her speed, getting out to a very quick 25.81 on the first 50m. She came home in 30.05 to get her hands on the wall in 55.86.

Japan’s Ai Soma earned the silver medal with a 57.57, beating out China’s Wang Yichun on the back half of the race. Yichun was out in 26.53 on the first 50m, well ahead of Soma’s 27.08. Soma was able to come home much faster, however, splitting 30.49 on the 2nd 50 to Yichun’s 31.30.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, United States (2021)
• Asian Record: 50.39 – Joseph Schooling, Singapore (2016)
• Asian Games Record: 51.04 – Joseph Schooling, Singapore (2018)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Katsuhiro Matsumoto (Japan) – 51.13
• SILVER: Wang Changhao (China) – 51.24
• BRONZE: Adilbek Mussin (Kazakhstan) – 51.86

The men’s 100 fly final tonight featured a great race between Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto and China’s Wang Changhao, which ultimately ended in Matsumoto touching first in 55.13, leading Changhao by 0.11 seconds.

Changhao was out fast tonight, splitting 23.67 on the opening 50m. That put him almost half a second ahead of Matsumoto, who split 24.03 on the first 50. Matsumoto was able to hold on better than Changhao, splitting 27.10 on the 2nd 50 to Changhao’s 27.57.

Matsumoto was notably just off the Asian Games Record of 51.04.

Kazakhstan picked up their first medal of the meet, seeing Abildek Mussin clock a 51.86 for the bronze medal.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 57.45 – Kaylee McKeown, Australia (2021)
• Asian Record: 58.70 – Aya Terakawa, Japan (2013)
• Asian Games Record: 58.94 – Zhao Jing, China (2010)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Wan Letian (China) – 59.38
• SILVER: Wang Xueer (China) – 59.52
• BRONZE: Eunji Lee (South Korea) – 1:00.03

China posted a 1-2 finish in the women’s 100 back tonight, with Wan Letian and Wang Xueer touching as the only swimmers in the field under 1:00. Letian won the race with a 59.38, touching out Xueer, who was 59.52.

The duo swam very similar races tonight. Letian was out in 28.56, while Xueer was right behind in 28.62. It was nearly identical on the 2nd 50m, where Letian split 30.82 to Xueer’s 30.90.

South Korea earned their first medal of the night, as Eunji Lee clocked a 1:00.03 for bronze.

MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:42.00 – Paul Biedermann, Germany (2009)
• Asian Record: 1:44.39 – Sun Yang, China (2017)
• Asian Games Record: 1:44.80 – Tae-Hwan Park, South Korea (2010)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Sunwoo Hwang (South Korea) – 1:44.40 (ASIAN GAMES RECORD)
• SILVER: Pan Zhanle (China) – 1:45.28
• BRONZE: Hojoon Lee (South Korea) – 1:45.56

South Korea’s Sunwoo Hwang got it done tonight in the men’s 200 free, winning the race comfortably in 1:44.40. Not only does Hwang win a gold medal with the performance, but he also set a new Asian Games Record, as well as a new South Korean Record in the event. Moreover, Hwang was just 0.01 seconds off the Asian Record in the event, which Sun Yang set back in 2017.

Hwang put together a great race tonight. He was out in 24.33, then split 26.36, 26.92, and 26.79 on the remaining 50s. That made for a 50.69 on the first 100m, followed by a 53.71 on the 2nd 100.

Though he was the hot hand coming in, China’s Pan Zhanle came in 2nd tonight with a 1:45.28. The swim comes in off Zhanle’s personal best of 1:44.65, which he swam earlier this year, though it was still a solid swim for the teen. After going under 47 seconds in the 100 free earlier in the meet, Zhanle just wasn’t as fast as he could have been going out in the 200 tonight. He split 51.54 on the opening 100m, which was nearly a second slower than Hwang was out.

South Korea earned another medal with Hojoon Lee finishing 3rd in 1:45.56.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, United States (2017)
• Asian Record: 1:05.19 – Reona Aoki, Japan (2022)
• Asian Games Record: 1:06.40 – Satomi Suzuki, Japan (2018)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Reona Aoki (Japan) – 1:06.81
• SILVER: Satomi Suzuki (Japan) – 1:06.95
• BRONZE: Yang Chang (China) – 1:07.01

Japan pulled off a 1-2 punch of their own, seeing Reona Aoki and Satomi Suzuki take 1st and 2nd respectively in the women’s 100 breast tonight. It was Suzuki who was out a little faster than Aoki, splitting 31.12 on the first 50m to Aoki’s 31.21. Aoki then came home slightly faster, allowing her to get her hands on the wall just ahead of Suzuki.

Of note, Suzuki is the Asian Games Record holder in the event (1:06.40), while Aoki is the Asian Record holder in the event (1:05.19).

China’s Yang Chang picked up a bronze medal with a 1:07.01.

WOMEN’S 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – FINAL

• World Record: 4:25.87 – Summer McIntosh, Canada (2023)
• Asian Record: 4:28.43 – Ye Shiwen, China (2012)
• Asian Games Record: 4:32.97 – Ye Shiwen, China (2014)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: Yu Yiting (China) – 4:35.44
• SILVER: Ageha Tanigawa (Japan) – 4:35.65
• BRONZE: Mio Narita (Japan) – 4:38.77

China’s Yu Yiting won gold in the women’s 400 IM in a tight finish with Japan’s Ageha Tanigawa. Truthfully, the race wasn’t that close until the final 100m, as Yiting was firmly in control until then. She turned at the 300m mark 1.68 seconds ahead of Tanigawa, but that’s where Tanigawa went to work. Tanigawa closed the gap to 1.16 seconds at the 350m turn, then put on the jets, roaring home in 30.80 on the final 50m, which was much faster than Yiting’s 31.75. Unfortunately for Tanigawa, it was just shy of enough for her to get her hand on the wall first, and Yiting was able to out-touch her by 0.21 seconds at the finish.

Japan also picked up a bronze medal with Mio Narita taking 3rd in 4:38.77. Narita was very strong on the breaststroke leg tonight, splitting 1:19.30 on that 100. Both Japanese swimmers were excellent on the breaststroke leg, as Tanigawa split 1:19.73 tonight as well.

MIXED 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL

• World Record: 3:37.58 – Great Britain (2021)
• Asian Record: 3:38.41 – China (2020)
• Asian Games Record: 3:40.45 – China (2018)

PODIUM:

• GOLD: China – 3:37.73 (ASIAN RECORD)
• SILVER: Japan – 3:44.64
• BRONZE: South Korea – 3:46.78

Well…that relay was a wild ride. In almost identical fashion to the men’s 4×100 medley relay last night, China’s mixed medley smashed the Asian Record tonight and narrowly missed the World Record. It was an incredible performance from start to finish. Xu Jiayu threw down a 51.91 on the lead-off, marking one of the fastest performances of his career. Jiayu holds the Asian Record in the 100 back at 51.86, a mark which he set back in 2017.

Following Jiayu, Qin Haiyang dove in for China, delivering a blistering 57.25 breaststroke split. By this point, the race was over, as China had already established a 4-second lead over 2nd place Japan. Haiyang’s split was fantastic, marking the fastest relay split of his career.

Zhang Yufei, the women’s 100 fly champion from the start of this session, handled fly duty for China. She split 56.05, which was just a little slower than the 55.86 she swam to win gold earlier tonight. Yang Junxuan then anchored the team in 52.52, marking an exceptional split for her.

That put China into the finish in 3:37.73, blowing away the Asian Record of 3:38.41, which China had set back in 2020. Moreover, they were just 0.15 seconds off the World Record, which Great Britain set at 3:37.58 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Japan finished almost 7 seconds behind China, earning the silver medal with a 3:44.64. South Korea grabbed the bronze, swimming a 3:46.78.