Day 6 is in the books at the 2011 Chinese Inter-City Championships, which are a multi-sport youth festival that seeks to identify Olympic hopefuls in the pre-Olympic years. All male athletes are 18 & under, all female 17 & under.
The biggest swim of the day was from Wang Shun, who won the boys 200 IM in 1:58.56. That ties his time from September Nationals that ranks him 8th in the world this year.
The most interesting swim of the day was the girls 100 freestyle. The winner was Wang Haibing in 55.32, followed very tightly behind by Zheng Yanan in 55.34. Ye Shiwen, she of the dominant IM’s, posted a 55.44 for 3rd. As we speculated yesterday after the 200 free final (where she intentionally fell out in prelims), there’s a lot of intrigue about her potential in the freestyle races, and this 55.4 (at only 15) will only serve to increase that intrigue. That time is very close to what, for example, Missy Franklin went at the same age.
Zhang Fenglin, who in the spring set the National Record in the 200 back, followed it up with another good performance (though not record-breaking) in 1:57.03 to take the win.
And finally, in the girls 200 breaststroke, Li Xiang won in 2:27.62, which just misses her best time of the season. Fan Rong, who had previously done big damage in the World Cup series, took 2nd in 2:28.61.
Day 6 Medalists
Girls 200 breast
Li Xiang 2’27″62
Fan Rong 2’28″61
Li Qing 2’29″08
Boys 200 back
Zhang Fenglin 1’57″03
Lin Yongqin 1’59″73
Xu Jiayu 2’00″69
Boys 200 IM
Wang Shun 1’58″56
Mao Feilian 2’01″24
Ye Zhengchao 2’02″96
Girls 100 free
Wang Haibing 55″32
Zheng Yanan 55″34
Ye Shiwen 55″44
The way Ye Shiwen closes on the IMs, it is no wonder she will be great at the free!