Yan Zibei Cracks Asian 100m Breaststroke Record in 58.61 Heats Swim At China Team Test

Yan Zibei - Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

Yan Zibei scorched a 58.61 Asian record over 100m breaststroke in prelims on the first day of the Summer Test Competition organised for the Chinese swimming team over three days in Shandong Province.

According to screen shots of results being posted on social media by Chinese swim fans, the time is official but the nature ion the meet will determine whether the mark will stand as an Asian record. Time trials only count in certain circumstances, though it appears that the meet is official and full race conditions apply at the Shandong event.

Heats are being held in the evening, with morning finals the following day to mirror the Olympic Tokyo 202One Olympic program.

The Asian record had stood to Yan Zibei at 58.63 since he claimed bronze behind Britain’s Adam Peaty and James Wilby at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju last year.

Yan Zibei now holds the top 15 best times ever among Chinese swimmers over 100m breaststroke.

In other events, Ji Xinjie led the men’s 200m freestyle qualifiers in 1:47.91; Liu Xiang topped the heats of the women’s 50m free in 24.25; Yang Junxuan the wren’s 200m free in 1:58.15; 2012 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen the 200m medley, on 2:15.69; and Peng Xuwei the women’s 200m backstroke on 2:09.30.

The Place Of 100m Breaststroke

Great Britain celebrated gold and silver in the 100m breaststroke in Gwangju, Peaty and Wilby home 57.14sec to 58.46. The battle for bronze went to Yan Zibei in an Asian record of 58.63, Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki locked out in 58.93.

Triumph made Peaty the first man to win the 100m crown three times and gave Britain its first ever gold-and-silver finish at the World Championships in any event. Although the gap between Peaty and the rest has not narrowed since 2017, the draw of the British Olympic champion is clear: Wilby is now equal third fastest ever alongside 2012 Olympic champion Cameron Van Der Burgh, while Yan Zibei moved up to fifth swiftest ever.

The day before, in semi-finals, Peaty achieved his “Project 56” goal with a 56.88sec sledgehammer of a World record.

The meet went ahead with Sun Yang, who has lodged two appeals at the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the eight-year suspension he was handed by the World Anti-Doping Agency after a ruling in WADA’s favour by judges at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February.

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