Yu Zidi Threatens 4:30 Barrier in 400 IM; Sets Personal Best During Fast Night at Chinese National Champs
Teenage star Yu Zidi followed up on her victory in the 400-meter freestyle with a spectacular performance in the 400 individual medley on Friday night at the Chinese National Championships in Shenzhen. The 13-year-old phenom registered a career-best performance when she touched the wall in 4:30.79, an outing that gave the youngster a comfortable triumph over runnerup Ke Wenxi (4:33.59).
Yu entered the meet with a top time of 4:33.33, and absolutely obliterated that performance while qualifying for September’s Asian Games in Tokyo. Not only did Yu scare the 4:30 barrier in the event, she moved to No. 7 in the all-time rankings, going just ahead of Japan’s Yu Ohashi (4:30.82). Only six women have ever broken 4:30 in the 400 IM and Yu is on the cusp of joining that exclusive club.
On the men’s side, another rising teenage star prevailed in the 200 freestyle, as Zhang Zhanshuo blew away the field with a mark of 1:44.98. That time wasn’t far off Zhang’s best of 1:44.53 and finished well ahead of the 1:46.63 of Fei Liwei, who was coming off a victory in the 1500 freestyle on Thursday.
The 100 butterfly events were each claimed in impressive fashion. On the men’s side, Xu Fang set a Chinese record of 50.73, which easily clipped the previous standard of 50.96, set in 2017 by Li Zhuhao. In the women’s event, Olympic medalist Zhang Yufei clocked 56.64 to edge Yu Yiting, who touched in 56.67.
Tang Qianting delivered a strong showing in the women’s 100 breaststroke, as she went 1:05.93 to secure the win. She was followed in second place by Yang Chang (1:06.23). In the women’s 100 backstroke, Li Wanwei prevailed in 59.17, a hundredth faster than Peng Xuwei.