Day 3 of the 2013 National Games of the People’s Republic of China saw yet another record go down in what has been a very fast meet thus far in Liaoning.
Men’s 200 free FINAL
Sun Yang started the session off with the swim-of-the-meet so far. In an event where he felt he was not in good enough shape to compete at the World Championships, Sun leapt to 2nd in the world and broke Tae Hwan Park’s old Asian Record of 1:44.80 (from the Olympics) by a significant margin with a 1:44.47 on Friday.
That marks a 5th gold in three days already for Zhejiang, three of which have come on a final touch from Sun. They would earn two more on the day, to sit with 7, still shy of the halfway mark.
Hao Yun closed his race extremely well to overtake nearly a full-second deficit against the very young Li Yunqi and turn it into a full second margin in the last 50 meters. Hao took the silver in 1:46.85, with Li placing 3rd in 1:48.30. Xu Qi Heng took 4th in 1:48.36, and Zhang Jie took 5th in 1:48.93.
Note that this puts the aggregate of the top four at around a 7:07.98, which without relay starts is about three seconds slower than they went at the World Championships with Hao, Li, Sun, and Wang Shun. In other words, though the swims, combined with Sun’s record, were a good performance here, these men overall were probably a hair better at Worlds (Sun anchored that relay in 1:43.1).
Women’s 100 back FINAL
Fu Yuanhui wasn’t able to match the 59.3 that she went in the semifinals, but her 59.64 was still good enough for gold.
Zhao Jing, world champion in the 50, dipped under a minute for the first time this season with a 59.92 for silver. Liao Yali took 3rd in 1:00.10.
Men’s 100 back FINAL
In the final for the men’s 100 backstroke, meanwhile, Xu Jiayu won in 53.43, knocking another four-tenths off of his semi-final swim and holding off National Record holder Cheng Feiyi, who was 53.91 for silver.
Xu’s swim was another gold medal for Zhejiang, and Cheng’s swim tallied another mark on the column of the home region Liaoning.
Sun Xiaolei from Shanghai took the bronze in 54.11.
Women’s 100 breast FINAL
Zhao Jin took the victory in the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:07.28. She didn’t even swim at the World Championships where China couldn’t get a swimmer out of prelims in this event, nor did silver medalist Liu Xiaoyu of Liaoning, who took silver here in 1:07.66.
The bronze medalist from Friday’s final, Sun Ye, did swim at Worlds, but her 1:07.80 was seven-tenths of a second than she was at Worlds where she had an early exit.
Full, live meet results available here.
SEMIFINALS
- Jiangsu’s Shen Duo took the top seed in the women’s 200 free semi-finals, posting a 1:57.05 at just 16 years old. The 2nd seed belonged to Zhu Wianwei from Shanghai,, who was 2nd in 1:57.71, and Zhang Yuhan the 3rd seed in 1:57.84. Three of the top four swimmers in the finals are teenagers, as are 5 of the top 8 finalists overall (including Qiu Yuhan, just 15, who was 1:58.50 for 8th).
- Hao Yun, in his 2nd swim of the day, took the top seed in the men’s 200 fly semi-final with a 1:56.97, followed by Wu Peng, another Zhejiang swimmer, in 1:57.27. Those two were the big favorites coming in, but veteran Shi Feng is currently 3rd in 1:57.71.
- Closing the session, Ye Shiwen took the top seed in the women’s 200 IM in 2:12.73, followed by a pair from Shanghai: Zhou Min in 2:13.91 and Zhang Sishi in 2:14.66. Ye stepped up for a good finals swim in the 400 IM final, so expect her to dip way down under 2:10 on Saturday.
Medals Table
Zhejiang may not have a dominant lead of the overall medal count (though they do lead that category), but their 7 gold medals in 12 events so far shows that their top end is far better than anyone else at this meet.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
| Zhejiang | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Shanghai | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Shanxi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Yunnan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Army | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Hibei | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Liaoning | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Hunan | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Beijing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Henan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Shandong | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
I don’t think anyone will reach Yang’s ability in the 1500 by 2016, Mack has an outside shot. By 2016, I don’t think he will be alone in 400. Agnel under bowman could surpass him
And people have so short memory
Not only Hackett, but Sun Yang is still way behind Kieren Perkins and Salnikov, and has not even surpassed Murray Rose.
And Yes, he may surpass all of them, and I do think he has the talent, but until he wins 3 straight olympics gold in 1,500, he has not surpassed Hackett or even Perkins in the distance GOAT list.
I didn’t say sun was more dominant in the 400. No way. But sun went 3:40:14 in jammers and thorpe did 3:40:08 in a full textile suit with sleeves. But I don’t think thorpe will ever be matched in 400 free dominance
Plus, sun is the real wr holder in the 400. Thorpe did it in a full body suit w/ sleeves
You are so misinformed if you think the body suit had anything to do with Thorpe’s dominance. I believe Thorpe was the last person to break a WR in briefs.
I second that…the body suit had to have some impact. If we believe that a jammer has an advantage over a brief why wouldn’t a full body suit with sleeves be an advantage?
One of the main problems I see with that argument is if it was so advantageous, why didn’t everyone else use it? It’s a valid point to bring up, but I think Thorpe more than proved himself without it also.
That suit was not “Thorpe Exclusive” by contract? That it was developed for him and only he could use it??
Yes, only by Adidas.
But other swimsuit manufacturers could have made the same suit and yet they didn’t.
People have so short memory.
In early 2000 everyone already wore bodysuit. The only difference with Thorpe’s was that Thorpe’s had sleeves.
Even Phelps’ suit that he wore to break 200 free WR in 2007 Melbourne was so much more advance (pro II Z).
And if sleeves had actually helped, why didn’t anyone wear it in 2008-2009 where anything goes?
Thorpe went 3:41.8 in BRIEFS at the age of 16, and these ignoramus believe that he could only swam 3:40 at the age of 19 because of suit?
Puhleeasseee..
Any body suit, with or without sleeves is an advantage over a jammer. Whether or not the sleeves are beneficial or restrictive is a good question, but I don’t see how we could say either way on that one.
Sure others could have developed a similar suit, but I think swimmers were more comfortable without sleeves and that’s what all the other manufacture’s went after.
And yes…Thorpe was plenty fast in a brief. Would have churned out a great swim regardless of the suit when he swam that 3:40.
In any case, Thorpe’s bodysuit with sleeves actually slowed him down.
If only Thorpe had worn normal bodysuit (without constricting his arm rotation) like those worn by Hackett, Phelps, etc, he would have swum even faster.
Hmm, never thought about the slowed arm rotation. I guess it wouldn’t be a significant advantage. However, i think it would still result in a .1-.2 difference in time
Aswimfan, thorpe never had sun’s 1500 and Hackett never had his 200. Sun is on his way to 1:43 200, sub 3:40 400 and maybe the 800 wr. Thorpe was the goat for a while, but the next greatest of all time has come.
That’s why I didn’t say Thorpe was greatest distance swimmer.
We are talking about greatest distance swimmer. which means 800-1,500
unless you think 200 and 400 is distance?
I think we may be arguing two different arguments. i thought the argument was best overall freestyler (100-1500). Hackett is still the greatest distance freestyler and Thorpe is obviously the greatest middle distance (Would have broken 3:40 had his personal life not been what is was). However, im saying that Yang is on his way to becoming the greatest overall 100-1500.
The exact same thought I had!
Sun Yang is on his way towards living up to the potential that Denis Cotterell had assigned to him a few years ago: 48low 100freestyler, 143 200freestyler, sub340 400freestyler, sub1430 1500freestyler.
I think to cement his place as the greatest distance freestyler, Sun MUST win the 400 and 1500 in Rio, and the 1500 in Kazan. Bonus points will be awarded if he wins the 400 in Kazan, breaks the 800 WR at some point, and/or wins an international 200free at any point in his career (which would completely be feasible if you remove Yannick Agnel from the equation).
I personally see Agnel as a definitive obstacle in Sun’s legacy. If it wasn’t for Agnel, Sun would have been won… Read more »
So you think 2 straight olympics gold is enough to trump 2 straight olympics gold AND a silver?
Depends on the performances at the Olympics, before it and after it. I have a good feeling about Sun Yang because even when he’s “out of shape”, his natural balance in the water still allows him to go fast. I believe this is one of the reasons he can post 14:40s and 3:42s all year round.
If Sun Yang can continue this dominance through to Rio, I think he would to be in contention as one of the greatest freestylers of all time!
If he continues his dominance and break thorpe 400 WR.. he will pass Hacket and Salkinov and the best ever long distance freestyler.. and become the best middle-long distance passing Thorpe on that too.. ( But I would keep Thorpe still as the best middle distance freestyler)
Yes I would have to agree. Thorpe was so ahead of his time but if Sun breaks 3:40 and 14:30 there would be no question to me who the greatest long distance freestyler is.
ummm… no.
1,500 is what determines the distance in men. 400 is for middle distance.
This is what Hackett had:
2 olympics gold and 1 silver, all consecutive
A stunning WR that crushed Perkins’ WR by more than 7 seconds
4 straight world championships gold
A stunning SCM WR that has never been broken, yes it is still standing at 14:10
This is what Yang has:
1 olympics gold
2 WRs that overall shaved 3 seconds from Hackett’s record
2 world championships golds
Unless Yang wins in both 2016 Rio and 2020 Olympics, Hackett is still the greatest distnce freestyler ever.
That is, unless you don’t think winning olympics is not important.
Also, had it not been for Thorpe, Hackett would have broken the 400 record too (kinda like Lochte in 400 IM).
And it’s about time that somebody breaks Thorpe’s textile WR. it’s now already men’s textile WR longest standing ever (even if you start from duke kahanamoku). When somebody finally breaks it, it would be similar to when Susie O’neill broke Mary T. Meagher’s 200 fly record.
Thorpe’s 400 record is incredible. I wonder what it would have been in a supersuit