Pan Zhanle Prepares For 200 Free Final With 1:45.70 Semi Swim At Chinese Nationals

2024 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, April 19th – Sunday, April 27th
• Shenzhen, China
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Results
• Livestream

We saw day 2 of the 2024 Chinese National Swimming Championships unfold tonight from Shenzhen with the 10-day competition representing the nation’s Olympic Trials.

We reported how a new Asian Record went down in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m breast, with 20-year-old world champion Tang Qianting firing off a huge lifetime best of 1:04.68. You can read more about her remarkable swim here.

The men’s 100m breast event saw its medal-contending race take place with the #2 performer of all time Qin Haiyang grabbing the gold.

Qin busted out a time of 58.24 to land atop the podium, spitting 26.98/31.26 in the process. That is a menacing time for anyone else but for the 24-year-old 200m breast world record holder it sits well behind the 57.69 lifetime best he put on the books at the 2023 World Cup stop in Berlin.

Also getting under 59 seconds tonight was runner-up Sun Jiajun with the 23-year-old 50m breast bronze medalist from the 2023 World Championships unleashing 58.73.

Sun opened in 27.06 and brought it home in 31.67 to register a new career-best. His previous swiftest-ever result sat at the 58.99 established at last year’s edition of this event.

Sun now ranks 5th in the world this season, qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the process.

Reigning 200m breast world champion and world junior record holder Dong Zhihao earned bronze in 59.67 this evening.

Olympic champion Zhang Yufei produced a winning time of 56.36 to take the women’s 100m butterfly and qualify for the Olympics.

Zhang got to the wall about half a second ahead of Yu Yiting who was also sub-57 in 56.82, a new career-best mark. Wang Yichun logged 57.96 for the bronze.

Zhang’s season-best remains at the 55.86 put up for gold at last year’s Asian Games while Yu’s performance tonight overtakes her PB of 57.51 from last year. She now bumps herself up the all-time Chinese performer list to occupy slot #5.

All-Time Chinese Women’s LCM 100 Butterfly Performers

1. Zhang Yufei – 55.62, 2020
2. Liu Zige – 56.07, 2009
3. Chen Xinyi – 56.61, 2014
4. Lu Yang – 56.76, 2016
5. Yu Yiting – 56.86, 2024

The other final was the men’s 400m IM where, unfortunately for Chinese swimming fans, no athlete dipped under the Olympic QT of 4:12.50.

Huang Zhiwei topped the field in 4:16.33 as the only swimmer under the 4:20 threshold. Chen Nuo collected silver in 4:21.86 and Li Yifeng clocked 4:22.53 for the bronze.

Semi-Finals

• Liu Yaxin landed lane 4 for tomorrow night’s final of the women’s 200m free, posting a time of 1:56.81. That’s already within striking distance of the 1:56.18 PB she logged last year. Li Bingjie and Yang Junxuan will flank their countrymate, with the former touching in 1:57.10 and the latter turning in a time of 1:57.20. Of note, Zhang was in this 2free semi-final but finished in 2:01.08 and out of the final.
• Olympic medalist Xu Jiayu turned some heads tonight with a quick 52.40 to earn the pole position in the men’s 100m back.  28-year-old Xu is less than half a second away from the 52.05 he punched for gold at last year’s Asian Games. The next-closest swimmer tonight was Wang Gukailai who touched in 54.13. 200m IM Olympic champion Wang Shun made the final in 4th with 54.75.
• Newly-minted 100m free world record holder Pan Zhanle is ready to take gold in the men’s 200m free, earning the top seed in a swift 1:45.70. He split 50.41/55.29 to hold a healthy advantage over Ji Xinjie who earned #2 status in 1:46.73. Zhang Zhanshuo logged 1:46.78 as the 3rd seed. Wang was in this semi-final, too, but finished 14th in 1:48.96. Pan is China’s 2nd-best-ever performer in this 200m free, owning a lifetime best of 1:44.65 from last year. In Doha this year the 19-year-old placed a disappointing 38th with a time of 1:51.03 out of the heats.