Final Medal Tally, 4 Big Things from the 2014 Asian Games

The 2014 Asian Games dominated much of the swimming news last week, as the final major international competition of the long course season brought some dominant times from Asia’s best swimmers, many of whom seem to be on the rise in the international swimming scene.

Here’s a quick lookback at the major highlights of the competition, starting with a look at the team medal totals.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China (CHN) 22 12 11 45
2 Japan (JPN) 12 20 13 45
3 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 3 2 0 5
4 Singapore (SIN) 1 2 2 5
5 South Korea (KOR) 0 2 6 8
6 Hong Kong (HKG) 0 0 3 3
7 Vietnam (VIE) 0 0 2 2
8 India (IND) 0 0 1 1
Total 38 38 38 114

What started out as a dominated effort for the Japanese men eventually swung back the other way, giving China the the top of the gold medal count, just like in 2010.

Early on, it was a battle of the Japanese men and Chinese women, both of whom swept their respective events on day 1. But the Chinese men started to cut into Japan’s success over the second half of the meet, and when the Chinese women remained nearly untouchable, the medal tally started to get more uneven.

What’s interesting is that Japan actually finished tied with China in overall medals, a huge improvement from 2010, when Japan earned 39 medals to China’s 54. That was thanks in large part to Kosuke Hagino, who was the unquestioned star of the meet with 6 individual medals, 3 of them gold. He also won gold as a member of the 4×200 free relay.

The difference, though, was that China bagged 22 golds, ten more than their Japanese rivals. That was led by a crushing effort from the Chinese women, who won 15 of the country’s gold medals including bruising wins in all three relays.

It was a disappointing Games for the host nation of South Korea, which saw national icon Park Tae-hwan struggle some in the pool that bears his name. Park took just a silver and two bronzes individually after winning three gold medals each in 2006 and 2010. That left Korea without an event win, dropping them below Singapore and Kazakhstan. Singapore got a 100 fly win from its rising star Joseph Schooling, and Kazakhstan, of course, shot up the medal tally thanks to a breaststroke sweep from breakout star Dimitry Balandin.

A quick recap of some major takeaways from the meet:

1. Kosuke Hagino is for real – but what should his strategy be for Kazan? No one following the swimming portion of these Asian Games could miss the rise of Japan’s Kosuke Hagino. He was everywhere, in a very literal sense – Hagino took seven total medals in events ranging from mid-distance freestyle to backstroke to IM. It’s common in swimming circles to refer to a versatile swimmer like Hagino as “Phelpsian,” but the diminutive racer is rapidly making an adjective out of his own name. Hagino won 6 of his medals in individual competition, more than even Phelps did in his amazing Beijing Olympic run. The swimmer who once said he wants to be like Phelps is becoming a legendary swimmer all his own.

But aside from the effusive praise, the biggest question for Hagino is how he’ll tweak or narrow his focus heading into next summer’s World Championships and the Olympics a year later. Will Hagino continue to emphasize his versatility with a wide-ranging event lineup? And would that decision cost him shots at gold medals due to the fatigue? The backstroke events in particular are so loaded internationally that Hagino might be better off dropping them to focus on his IMs and freestyles. The same could have been said about those free races a few weeks ago, but now that Hagino’s beaten Sun Yang and Park Tae-hwan, he might actually be the favorite at next summer’s Worlds. Hagino will have to make some big decisions in the coming months as to his training focus, and the decision might best be boiled down to quality vs. quantity: does he want to take multiple grabs at medals of all colors, or does he want to take just a couple shots at that alluring gold?

2. Sun Yang and Park Tae-hwan are in need of some tuning up: Sure, Hagino made some major strides in passing up Sun and Park to steal the spotlight of these games, but the sobering reality is that this was far from a strong showing for either swimmer. Coming off a tumultuous season and some good old fashioned trash-talking, China’s Sun was far from his usual self in the pool. He was slower than his 2010 times in both the 400 and 1500 and dropped out of the 800 free relay with a thumb injury. Though that injury may have affected his results some, he’s no longer the consensus pick to win the distance races at Worlds next summer, and he’ll have some proving himself to do in Kazan.

Park, meanwhile, was a bit of a head-scratcher in Incheon. He had a major home-pool advantage, with legions of adoring fans packing the stands and a brand-new pool with his name on it to compete in. But Park was well off his best, adding time in all of his freestyle races – including an astounding 7 seconds in the 400 – compared to his 2010 showing. In fact, Park was 5 full seconds slower in his 400 than he was a month earlier at Pan Pacs. It’s hard to argue that he struggled to hold a taper, as Park only swam a single event at Pan Pacs in what at the time appeared to be a tune-up meet for the Asian Games. Whatever the issue is with Park, he’s now got something in common with his Chinese rival in that both have an urgent need to get back on track before Kazan.

3. Dimitry Balandin is putting Kazakhstan back on the map: Balandin was virtually unknown heading into Incheon, but he chopped off time in droves to sweep all three breaststroke races. Most impressive was his 2:07.67 in the 200 breast, making him yet another man hovering around the world record. At this point, the 200 breaststrokers across the world feel like a flock of vultures, slowly circling the world record, and you get the impression that as soon as one man swoops in and breaks into the 2:06s, the rest will follow in bunches to the feeding frenzy. Balandin has a solid case for being that first guy, though. Based on his massive improvements over the past week, you could expect that he’s got even more room to grow moving forward. Don’t forget about Balandin by next summer, because he looks like a genuine threat in an increasingly crowded event.

4. Ye Shiwen needs some competition: China has a whole stable full of young stars on the female side, but none is as high-profile as world record-holding IMer Ye Shiwen. Ye cruised to wins in both IM races at these Asian Games, and it wasn’t close. She won the 400 by seven seconds and the 200 by a second and a half, not putting up spectacular times in either, but also not needing to. Just 18 years old, the reigning Olympic gold medalist probably won’t have to show her best stuff until Kazan next summer, but swimming fans everywhere are already excited to see if she can still drop the hammer on her closing freestyle leg, as she famously did in London, when she’s finally pushed for an IM victory.

A couple more standout swimmers:

  • Xu Jiayu, China – Xu proved his ultra-fast backstroke swim from Chinese Nationals was no fluke, picking up silver in the 100 and 200 meter distances. Watch for him to join the crowded word backstroke fields in the coming years
  • Joseph Schooling, Singapore – The American-based Texas Longhorn freshman continued his international breakout, picking up a huge win in the 100 fly and adding silver in the 50.
  • Ning Zetao, China – China continues to improve drastically in the sprint freestyles, one area it’s been weak in for awhile. Ning doubled up in golds, joining a select group of men to break 48 in a textile suit and giving China the freestyle punch they need to compete in the medley relay.
  • Shen Duo, China – The flip-side of that coin is Shen on the women’s side. She followed up a breakout Youth Olympic Games with dual golds here in the 100 and 200 frees. Shen looks like the real deal at just 17 years old, and should only develop more as her career continues.
  • Kanako Watanabe, Satomi Suzuki, Japan – Japan continues to be ultra-strong in the breaststrokes, and Watanabe and Suzuki combined to win two of the three distances, the only discipline where China didn’t take home most of the golds. Watanabe was just a hair from making it a sweep with a silver in the 100 breast as well.

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carlo
9 years ago

li zhuhao the 15 year old chinese guy split 51.44 in the butterfly leg of the medley relay and 51.91 flat in the 100 fly.

carlo
9 years ago

among american swimmers,only ledecky is truly unbeatable at the moment and that is at the,400,800 and 1500 freestyles.in the 200 free sarah sjostrom has the fastest time of the year at 1:55:04, missy franklin would also be unbeatable in the 200 backstroke at her best but she is not at her best at the moment.The thing is ledecky may be challenged by jazz carlin in the 800 free,carlin actually hated swimming long distance races until recently.in the 800 free, her splits are similar to ledecky but carlin,s turns are bad at the moment.if she improves her turns,then i can see her swimming a 8:11 in the 800 free since she was a 8:15 at the european championships despite her bad… Read more »

ayush sombanshi
9 years ago

all participants of various countries give their best andi hopedobest

9 years ago

100%gold win

bobo gigi
9 years ago

Very good recap.
You have just forgotten to mention the 15-year-old Chinese Zhuhao Li who has swum 51.91 in the 100 fly.

In Rio Hagino must “only” swim the 400 IM, the 200 free, the 200 IM and the 4X200 free relay in my opinion. Quality over quantity.

Sean S
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

I think the big thing for Hagino to consider for Rio will be the extra round he has to swim through in each of his events. Three individuals would probably be his best bet, but I think swimming on their 400 medley relay either just in prelims as the backstroker or for both rounds as the freestyler would help Japan and give him an outside shot at another medal without interfering with any other races.

Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

The Asian Games were about right in sifting the rankings not only in swimming but all other sports . Judging was fair &’some surprises eg China got beaten on beam by a North Korean ( no not Dear Leader in a leotard)

In swimming the standard is rising fast with a few new tigers . Hong Kong & Singapore & Vietnam ,& Thailand yet not Taiwan or the Philipines – interesting thesis material there for any economics students.

What I also see is the weakness at this present time of USA . Their superiority is

men : 100 fly 800 relay

Women : Katie Ledecky who accounts for all USA ‘s number ones. 200 400 800 .

Adding… Read more »

bobo gigi
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

Men’s 4X100 medley relay?
Women’s 4X200 free relay?
Clary has beaten Irie in the 200 back at Pan Pacs.

And we are in 2014.

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  bobo gigi
9 years ago

Time for medley relay- I was nort certain but USA barely beat Japan at Pan Pacs . China easily beat Japan .

Irie’s time in the 200 back is way faster . Clary is ranked 3rd.

The W 800 relay was a narrow win for the USA & not overly superior considering Australia were barely hanging on after CWG .

Yes genius it is 2014 . I stated ‘at the present time’ .

Just because you are American swimming’s number one fan does not magically up their standing . Only Ledecky is truly out there in front of the world.

I am not tge only one noticing this so you won’t be pulling the wool over. Every other team’s… Read more »

TheTroubleWithX
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

Think you might have your relays confused. The USA men’s 4×200 free relay won by a much more narrow margin than did the women’s team, and the men’s medley relay won by over two seconds.

Jim C
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

In the men’s medley relay US beat Japan by 2.14s, while China beat Japan by 0.33s. I wouldn’t say the US barely beat Japan, while China easily beat Japan.

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

Ok ( I could not find the relay numbers in the rankings but overall the numbers don’t change. We take Ledecky’s 200 & give back the men’s medley relay.

Men 100 fly. 800 relay 400 medley relay. / Women 400 800 (1500) 800 relay . A grand total of 6 Olympic events .

Australia has

Men 100 free 200 free 400 relay. / women 100 free 100 200 back 400 f relay 400 medley relay . A grand total of 8 Olympic events .

Downticking the truth is not a good look.

Rafael
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

I don´t think australia with what showed will win 4×100 men free relay.. the europeans are better.. and AUS and US barely beat a brazil withouth Cielo and Santana..

Billabong
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

The USA 100 fly has immense depth, which could be a problem for an ageing phelps in Rio. Unfortunately there is no gold medal in the event for team USA. King Chad will win both the 100m and the 200m. IMO Tom Shields will be close and if Phelps qualifies, he could make the podium.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Billabong
9 years ago

so u have a crystal ball showing u who will win or not in 2 years ! wow Man , u got to open a visionary workshop soon or something similar . I must laugh at this pile of personnal assumptions . Age doesn’t define a swimmer anymore ( Torres , Ervin , Schoeman and many others show it’s not a question of age ) , so don’t hurry that fast ; many things are about to evolve way more than u can beleive .

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
9 years ago

It’s time for u to know what u are talking about ! haven’t seen all the relays in detail , check them again but please be precise .

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  ERVINFORTHEWIN
9 years ago

If that is for me – I’ll give back the M medley relay & take away ledecky’s 200 .

There was only one relay performance this year that really shone out & it was not American when my point was to note the comparative weakness of the US this year.

9 years ago

Ning Zetao should have competed at the recent Pan Pacs and tested himself against the bigger fish – Adrian, Magnussen and McEvoy (and Phelps)… he would have won Pan Pacs based on time alone, but whether he would have handled the pressure is the question…

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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