Chinese Long Course Nationals: Sun Yang Rattles Asian Record

WUHAN, China, April 5. AN Asian record nearly fell during the fourth day of the Chinese Long Course Nationals held in Wuhan.

Sun Yang clocked a sterling time of 3:41.48 to win the men's 400 free, just .13 seconds off Zhang Lin's Asian record of 3:41.35. The swim pushed Sun to second in the textile ranks behind only Ian Thorpe's 3:40.08, and up to fifth all time regardless of apparel. He crushed the previous top time in the world of 3:43.85 clocked by Yannick Agnel last month in France. Dai Jun placed a distant second in 3:50.61 to move into the top 15, while Zhong Guixu earned third in 3:52.48.

An observer on deck predicts that Sun will be the first man under 3:40 since "his stroke and power are perhaps the best I have seen." The observer also claims that Sun still has some work to do as he triple breathes in and out of turns.

Zhang Hontao turned in a 31.21 to win the women's 50 breast, and move to second in the world this year behind only Rebecca Ejdervik's 31.06 from the Canadian Nationals last weekend. Ji Liping touched second in 31.29 for sixth in the world, while Liu Xiaoyu touched third in 31.35 for seventh.

Liu Zige won the women's 100 fly in 57.39 to take second in the world rankings behind Alicia Coutts' 57.25. Lu Ying placed second in 58.14 after clocking a 58.07 in prelims to jump to eighth in the world. Liu Jan rounded out the top three in 58.21.

Two more swimmers cleared the 1:00 in the women's 100 back, pushing the tally this year to five, as Zhao Jing (59.91) and Gao Chang (59.95) finished first and second. Those swims put them at third and fifth in the rankings, as Belinda Hocking (59.55), Missy Franklin (59.56) and Aya Terakawa (59.91) are the under sub-1:00 performers. Liu Yali completed the podium with a third-place 1:00.60.

Our observer on deck explained that Zhao is a hometown hero in Wuhan, and her cheering section proved to be vociferous with cymbals, horns and whistles as well as standard cheering. This practice is not common the rest of the meet, as our observer stated that "you can hear a pin drop it's so quiet during most of [the meet]."

Wang Shun claimed the men's 200 IM in 1:59.50 to take seventh in the world rankings. Yang Zhiyin placed second in 2:01.05, while Zhang Fenglin picked up third in 2:01.18.

Chen Weiwu topped the men's 100 fly in 53.17, a top 15 time in the rankings. Chen Yin placed second in 53.19, while Zhang Qibin wound up third in 53.28.

In relay action, Zhejiang won the women's 800 free relay in 7:58.71, while Shanghai took second in 7:59.95. Beijing's team finished third in 8:01.01, while Shanghai's Pang Jiaying clocked the fastest leadoff with a 1:59.08. Another notable leadoff came with a 2:01.97 from 13-year-old Shen Duo of Jiangsu.

Special thanks to Christopher Chow for contributing to this report.

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