Chinese National Games: Men’s 400 Medley Relay Breaks National Record

JINAN, China, October 24. THE final day of the Chinese National Games taking place over long course featured a huge upset, a near Asian record and a national mark in relay action.

The men's 400 medley relay team of He Jianbin (54.95), Zhang Guoying (1:00.73), Zhou Jiawei (50.65) and Shi Runqiang (48.36) lowered the Chinese record with a time of 3:34.69. That swim downed the national mark of 3:35.86 set by China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

For the women, Zhou Yanxin, Ji Liping, Liu Zige and Pang Jiaying topped the medley relay in 3:54.99, while five teams all broke 4:00 in the swift competition.

Sun Yang surprised heavy favorite Zhang Lin in the men's 1500 free. Sun, who took third in the event at Worlds, won in 14:54.87, while reigning world champion Zhang faded to third overall in 15:03.12. Dai Jun wound up taking second with a time of 14:59.05. While Zhang had been shooting for a perfect 6-for-6 at the meet, he came down with an illness and had to settle for three golds, a silver and a bronze.

Li Zhesi just missed the Asian record in the women's 50 free with a winning time of 24.56. The performance came up just short of Le Jingyi's continental standard of 24.51 set back in 1994. Zhu Yingwen finished second in 24.72, while Pang Jiaying took third in 24.76.

English translation of results courtesy of Swimming World Chinese correspondent Christopher Chow

Women's 50 free:
(1) Li Zhesi (Liaoning) 24.56
(2) Zhu Yingwen (Shanghai) 24.72
(3) Pang Jiaying (Shanghai) 24.76
(4) Yang Li (Liberation Army) 24.81
(4) Tang Yi (Shanghai ) 24.81
(6) Wang Junyao (Shanghai) 24.88
(7) Wang Dan (Henan) 25.25
(8) Ling Shuyuan (Zhejiang) 25.26
Li Zhesi almost broke Le Jingye's 15 year-old Asian record (24.51). Zhu Yingwen won this event at the last National Games in 2005 in 24.59.

Men's 1500 free:
(1) Sun Yang (Zhejiang) 14:54.87 (800m split: 7:55.19)
(2) Dai Jun (Shanghai) 14:59.25
(3) Zhang Lin (Beijing) 15:03.12
(4) Zu Lijun (Jiangsu) 15:04.57
(5) Ji Zhiqiang (Jiangsu) 15:23,58
(6) Ren Chen (Hebei) 15:34.00
(7) Xu Wenchao (Shanghai) 15:44.93
(8) Zhong Guixu (Anhui) 16:23.10
Asian record holder and China's #1 male swimmer Zhang Lin was a disappointing third, although he holds the national record at 14:45.84 from the 2008 Olympics.

Women's 4×100 medley relay:
(1) Shanghai 3:54.99
(Zhou Yanxin 59.50 (28.71 at 50m); Ji Liping 1:06.04; Liu Jige 55.89; Pang Jiaying 53.56)
(2) Liberation Army 3:56.51
(Yang Li 1:01.35; Qi Hui 1:04.96; Jiao Liuyang 56.02; Zhou Yafei 54.18)
(3) Shandong 3:58.98
(Gao Chang 59.04 (29.09 at 50m); Wang Qun 1:06.94; Zhang Fan 57.50; Zhu Jiani 55.50)
(4) Zhejiang 3:59.61
(Bai Anqi 1:00.85; Chen Huijia 1:07.09; Zheng Rongrong 57.87; Yang Yu 53.80)
(5) Liaoning 3:59.82
(Zhan Shu 1:00.50; Liu Xiaoyu 1:07.67; Wang Junyao 57.85; Li Zhesi 53.80)
(6) Wubei 4:02.33
(Zhao Jing 1:00.29; Yan Lei 1:08.87; Deng Biying: 57.74; Liu Yinyi 55.43)
(7) Guangdong 4:05.00
(Chen Yanyan 1:00.61; Li Qing 1:09.20; Liu Lan 59.09; Zhang Ying 56.10)
(8) Shanxi 4:13.87
(Tian Yafan 1:04.87; Wang Yijun 1:10.14; Shi Yuwen 58.97; Dong Luhan 59.89)
Liu Jige swam the fastest butterfly split in history: 55.89.

Men's 4×100 medley relay:
(1) Guangdong 3:34.69
(He Jianbin 54.95; Zhang Guoying 1:00.73; Zhou Jiawei 50.65; Shi Runqiang 48.36)
(national record, old record 3:35.86 set by national team at Beijing Olympics preliminaries. That team consisted of the same swimmers as above except that it was Chen Zuo who swam freestyle.)
(2) Beijing 3:37.03
(Zhang Yu 55.72; Wang Shuai 1:00.80; Shi Tengfei 52.29; Chen Zuo 48.22)
(3) Shandong 3:38.09
(Zhang Fenglin 55.95; Cheng Peng 1:01.18; Chen Weiwu 51.72; Wang Dong 49.24)
(4) Liaoning 3:39.30
(Cheng Feiyi 54.83; Niu Sichuan 1:02.14; Liu Weijia 52.89; Ban Bao 49.44)
(5) Liberation Army 3:40.08
(Diao Jigong 57.01; Qu Jingyu 1:00.40; Lin Lejun 52.25; Hu Yue 50.42)
(6) Shanghai 3:44.43
(Sun Xiaolei 57.12; Luo Jun 1:02.04; Jiang Haiqi 54.15; Shi Yang 51.12)
(7) Tianjin 3:48.51
(Liu Wei 58.66; Ma Xiang 1:02.72; Zhang Enjian 56.63; Zhang Jiachen 50.50)
(8) Guangxi 3:48.88
(Yang Xinlin 59.54; Zhang Zishan 1:03.76; Liu Yunpeng 55.94; Huang Shaohua 49.64)

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