Xu Jiayu & Company Nearly Break Asian Mixed Medley Relay Record At Time Trial

SUMMER TEST COMPETITION (CHN)

• Wednesday, July 29th – Friday, July 31st
• Shandong Province, China
• 50m (LCM)
• Results via Chinese app

Several Chinese national team members were in the water yesterday competing against one another in a closed competition before heading to a 3-week training camp.

A 3-day, unofficial meet is being held in Shandong Province, with the likes of Xu Jiayu, Yan Zibei and Ye Shiwen getting some swimming under their belts before their National Championships in the middle of next month.

The mixed medley relay combination of Xu Jiayu, Yan Zibei, Zhang Yufei and Yang Junxuan produced a collective effort of 3:40.56 to get the competition started. Xu opened in a speedy 52.78 backstroke leg, while Yan took over with a sub-59 clocking of 58.57 to carry the momentum into breaststroke.

Zhang Yufei came in with a solid fly split of 56.11, while Yang anchored in a stellar 53.10.

All told the foursome’s 3:40.56 unofficial time here would have rendered the squad as the bronze medalists at last year’s FINA World Aquatic Championships. The Chinese team there in Gwangju was disqualified and unable to reach the podium in this event.

For additional perspective as to how fast this meet’s unofficial mixed relay was, their time fell just .12 shy of the Chinese national record and Asian continental record. That mark stands at the 3:40.45 result the squad of the aforementioned first 3 members along with anchor Zhu Menghui registered for gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Splits for that Asian Games effort included 52.30 for Xu, 58.45 for Yan, 56.61 for Zhang, and 53.09 for Zhu.

Additional Day 1 Notes:

• 2012 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen checked in with a time of 2:13.92 to easily take the women’s 200m IM event.
• The men’s 50m free saw Yang Jintong get it done for gold in 22.79, while Liu Xiang hit a mark of 24.51 to take the women’s race. Reportedly the men and women contested the 50m free in mixed heats/final.
• Peng Xuwei touched in 2:09.34 to reap gold in the women’s 200m backstroke. That crushed the 2:12.41 mark Peng put up in Gwangju last year to place 22nd out of the heats at the World Championships.
• The men’s 200m free saw Ji Xinjie top the unofficial podium in a time of 1:47.70. He was the bronze medalist in this event at the aforementioned 2018 Asian Games, touching there in Jakarta in a time of 1:46.68.
• Sun Jiajun produced a winning 100m fly time of 52.00. Sun was a two-time medalist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, taking home 50m breast silver and 100m breast gold.
• Finally, the women’s 200m free winner Yang Junxuan brought some heat, stopping the clock in a result of 1:55.53. That obliterated the 1:57.48 Yang put up for silver at the 2018 Asian Games and falls just .10 outside of the 1:55.43 she produced for 5th place at last year’s World Championships.