China Open Will Welcome 17 of Swimming’s Brightest Stars
Less than a month remains before the China Open is held in Shenzhen, and there will be 17 high-profile international participants racing opposite many of the host nation’s premier athletes. The four-day competition is scheduled for March 19-22, and the meet will include Olympic gold medalists Cam McEvoy (Australia), Nicolo Martinenghi (Italy), Mollie O’Callaghan (Australia), Lukas Märtens (Germany), Kate Douglass (United States), Thomas Ceccon (Italy), Kyle Chalmers (Australia), Regan Smith (United States), Gretchen Walsh (United States), Lani Pallister (Australia) and Jack Alexy (United States).
China will be represented by its biggest names in the sport, including Olympic gold medalist Pan Zhanle (100 freestyle) and 13-year-old rising star Yu Zidi, who is the Asian record-holder in the 200 individual medley. In addition to the Olympic champions slated to compete, Olympic medalists Kliment Kolesnikov (Russia), Arno Kamminga (Netherlands), Alex Walsh (United States), Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) and Noe Ponti (Switzerland) will compete.
Rounding out the field of foreign stars scheduled to compete will be Pieter Coetze (South Africa), the reigning world champion in the 100 backstroke.
Because there is no global championship meet this year, the China Open will provide an opportunity for European athletes like Märtens and Ceccon to race against the best from the United States, Australia and China.