2023 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
- August 1-7, 2023
- Dong’an Lake Sports Park Swimming and Diving Hall, Chengdu, China
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Page
- Live Results + Schedule
- Live Stream Schedule (All Sports)
- Day 1 Finals Live Stream
- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap| Day 1 Finals Live Recap
WOMEN’S 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINALS
- World Record: Australia – 3:27.96 (2023)
WUGS Record: United States – 3:37.99 (2019)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: China – 3:37.51 (Championship Record)
- SILVER: Italy – 3:38.81
- BRONZE: Japan – 3:41.83
The Chinese team of Li Bingjie (54.40), Liu Yaxin (54.41), Luo Youyang (55.23), and Zhang Yufei (53.47) sped to victory tonight in the women’s 4×100 free relay at the 2023 WUGS in Chengdu, swimming a 3:37.51. Racing on their home soil, the quartet managed to crack the WUGS Championship Record of 3:37.99, which the United States set back at the 2019 Games.
Chinas was helped greatly by the presence of two of their biggest swimming stars from last week’s World Championships in Fukuoka: Li Bingjie and Zhang Yufei. Bingjie was critical to the team’s effort, leading off in 54.40, which marks a new career best for the 21-year-old. Her previous best was a 54.60, which she swam at the Chinese Spring Nationals back in May. Meanwhile, Yufei posted the fastest split in the event tonight, ripping a 53.47 on the anchor.
Both women were individual medalists in Fukuoka last week, with Yufei earning gold in the women’s 100 fly and silver in the 50 fly, while Bingjie earned the bronze medal in the women’s 800 free, setting a new Asian Record in the process, and grabbed the bronze medal in the women’s 1500 free.
Moreover, the swim marked Yufei’s 2nd WUGS Championship Record of the night, as she had also smashed the women’s 50 fly record by nearly half-a-second earlier in the session.
Here is a split comparison between China’s relay tonight and the previous WUGS Record relay from the United States back in 2019:
| SPLIT | China – 2023 WUGS | USA – 2019 WUGS |
| 1st Leg | Li Bingjie (54.40) | Veronica Burchill (55.39) |
| 2nd Leg | Liu Yaxin (54.41) | Claire Rasmus (54.63) |
| 3rd Leg | Luo Youyang (55.23) | Catie DeLoof (54.10) |
| 4th Leg | Zhang Yufei (53.47) | Gabby DeLoof (53.87) |
| FINAL TIME | 3:37.51 | 3:37.99 |
As the splits show, Bingjie’s lead-off really was critical to China’s success tonight. She was 0.99 seconds faster than Veronica Burchill swam to lead the Americans off back in 2019. Though Catie DeLoof was over a second faster on the 3rd leg than Youyang was tonight, Yufei’s anchor split being 0.40 seconds faster than Gabby DeLoof‘s anchor made up for it.
With both Bingjie and Yufei on the roster, tonight’s record may just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of China’s relay success this week in Chengdu.