Ning Zetao Lights Up 100 Free at Military Games

TENERO, Switzerland, June 14. WHILE Brazil definitely took its fair share of medals and top performances, Asian record holder Ning Zetao of China had some of the most impressive swims of the night at the World Military Games.

Ning nearly beat his season best in the men’s 100-meter free with a sizzling time of 48.46 for the win tonight. That swim just missed his eighth-ranked 48.41 from the Australian Aquatic Super Series meet earlier this year, and downed the meet record of 48.60 previously held by Christian Galenda. Russia’s Evgeny Lagunov placed second tonight in 49.82, while Brazil’s Nicolas Oliveira raced to third overall in 50.52. Ning also anchored China’s third-place men’s 400-meter free relay with a 48.00 for the best split of the night.

Brazil’s Joao Gomes Jr., who already stands eighth in the world with a 27.35 from Brazilian Winter Nationals, claimed the men’s 50-meter breaststroke crown tonight in 27.54. Germany’s Hendrik Feldwehr placed second in 27.96, but has been much faster with a ninth-ranked season best of 27.36 from German Nationals. Brazil’s Raphael Rodrigues rounded out the top three in 28.16.

Germany’s Dorothea Brandt rocked a meet record in the women’s 50-meter breast with a 31.30. That time downed the 31.47 set by Zhang Hongtao back in 2011. Brandt’s been much faster this year with a third-ranked 30.77 from German Nationals, but did not need that level of speed tonight. China’s Suo Ran touched second in 31.42, while Russia’s Vera Kalashnikova raced to third in the sprint breast event with a 32.65.

Germany’s Yannick Lebherz clipped Russia’s Alexander Tikhonov in the men’s 200-meter IM, 2:02.74 to 2:02.86. Meanwhile, China’s Chen Mengchang wound up third in the finale with a 2:03.27. China’s Wang Pudong took home the men’s 200-meter fly in 1:58.60, while Russia’s Nikolay Skvortsov finished second in 1:59.09. Brazil’s Leonardo De Deus earned third overall in 1:59.18. Brazil’s Guilherme Guido topped the men’s 50-meter back in 25.59 with Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Tarabrin finishing second in 25.77. Germany’s Christian Diener earned third in 25.94.

In a sparsely-contested finale, China’s Zhang Yuhan emerged from a pack of four swimmers with a 4:11.71 to win the women’s 400-meter free. Germany’s Franziska Hentke (4:16.39), Slovenia’s Tanja Smid (4:22.27) and Germany’s Svenja Zihsler (4:24.01) rounded out the finale.

The lack of competition on the women’s side continued in the women’s 200-meter IM finale with just five swimmers. France’s Charlotte Bonnet, however, still managed to put up a 2:15.51 for the win after scorching the meet with two wins last night. Ukraine’s Iryna Glavnyk took second overall in 2:18.47, while China’s Zhang Yuhan wound up third in 2:20.23.

Although it continued the trend of a shortlist of actual competitors, the women’s 200-meter fly did produce a pretty strong time out of China’s Jiao Liuyang. She posted a meet record of 2:07.91, downing the previous mark of 2:08.33 set by Gong Jie. Jiao’s time fell just a bit short of her sixth-ranked season-best time of 2:07.28 from the Chinese National Championships. Germany’s Franziska Hentke (2:08.55) and Svenja Zihsler (2:18.83) took second and third, while Russia’s Anastasiia Liazeva closed out the field with a fourth-place 2:20.07.

China’s Yao Jianan checked in with a 28.64 to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke, while Russia’s Alexandra Papusha picked up second in 28.90. Germany’s Lisa Graf raced to third in 29.12. China’s Zu Lijun followed with a 15:25.51 to win the men’s 1500-meter free. Russia’s Sergey Bolshakov finished second in 15:39.06 with Evgeny Kulikov earning third in 15:44.32.

Brazil’s Nicolas Oliveira (50.13), Vinicius Waked (50.65), Fernando Silva (50.13) and Joao De Lucca (49.48) picked up the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay title in 3:20.39. Brazil also won the women’s 400-meter free relay with Larissa Oliveira (55.89), Alessandra Marchioro (56.07), Daynara De Paula (56.06) and Graciele Hermann (55.97) racing to a 3:43.99 for the win. That crushed the previous meet record of 3:45.30 set by China in 2011.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use