WUHAN, China, April 3. THE Chinese Long Course Nationals produced a world best, and a runner-up performance during the second day of racing.
Sun Yang easily won the men's 800 free in 7:44.12 to move well atop the world rankings. Sebastien Rouault had been the top swimmer with a 7:54.95 from last month. The performance pushed Sun up to seventh all time in the event. Compatriot Zhang Lin holds the world and Chinese record with a 7:32.12 from 2009. Dai Jun placed second in 7:54.53 to stand second in the world now, while Li Yunqi earned third in 7:56.66.
Ye Shiwen moved to second in the world in the women's 200 IM with a sterling time of 2:10.11. Only Alicia Coutts has been faster with a 2:10.06 from Australia this week. Zhu Xiaoya took second in 2:12.24 to pick up sixth in the rankings, while Xue Jiao earned third-place honors with a 2:14.36.
Tang Yi improved to fourth in the world rankings in the women's 100 free with a 54.08 for the win. Only Femke Heemskerk (53.70), Camille Muffat (53.97) and Ranomi Kromowidjojo (54.00) have been faster. Wang Shujia took second in 54.61, while Li Zhesi placed third in 54.69.
Shao Yiwen touched out Zhu Wenyan, 4:05.60 to 4:05.81, in the women's 400 free. Those swims pushed the duo into fifth and sixth in the world rankings. Chen Shiyun (4:07.53) and Li Xuanxu (4:08.11) placed third and fourth.
Zhou Jiawei topped the men's 50 fly in 23.96 to move into a ninth-ranked tie with Fabien Gilot. Meanwhile, Chen Weiwu finished second in 24.37, while Shi Yang took third in 24.55.
Cheng Feiyi picked up the men's 100 back title in 54.21, jumping into 12th in the world rankings in the process. Sun Xiaolei took second in 54.42, while Zhang Fenglin earned third in 54.95.
In relay action, Shanghai won the men's 400 free relay in 3:19.84, while Jiangsu (3:20.93) and Guangdong (3:21.52) took second and third.
Special thanks to Christopher Chow for contributing to this report.