2025 CHINESE NATIONAL GAMES
- Monday, November 10th – Monday, November 17th (swimming)
- Shenzhen, China
- LCM (50m)
- Prelims at 9am local (8pm previous night ET)/Finals at 7pm local (6am ET)
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap/Day 6 Recap/Day 7 Recap
- Meet Central
- Results
- Livestream
MEN’S 50 BACK – FINAL
- World Record – 23.55, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2023
- Asian Record – 24.24, Junya Koga (JPN), 2009
- CHN Record – 24.36, Xu Jiayu, 2025
GOLD – Xu Jiayu, 24.40
SILVER – Wang Zicheng, 24.80
BRONZE – Jiang Chenglin, 25.01
We saw two men dip under the 25-second barrier in tonight’s 50m backstroke final, with the field led by 30-year-old Olympic medalist Xu Jiayu.
Xu stopped the clock at 24.40, just off the 24.36 which brought him a new national record during the semi-finals.
Wang Zicheng was next to the wall in 24.80 while Jiang Chenglin posted 25.01 for the bronze. Jiang’s bronze pairs with his 3rd place finish in the 100m back while Xu completed a clean sweep of the discipline.
WOMEN’S 50 BREAST – FINAL
- World Record – 29.16, Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2023
- Asian Record – 29.51, Tang Qianting (CHN), 2024
- CHN Record – 29.51, Tang Qianting (CHN), 2024
GOLD – Tang Qianting, 30.00
SILVER – Yang Chang, 30.11
BRONZE – Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 30.71
Tang Qianting carried her top seed into tonight’s final and successfully converted it to a gold medal in the women’s 50m breast.
Tang posted 30.00, a fingernail off the 30.01 from last night.
Yang Chang was much quicker this evening than the 30.56 she turned in previously, hitting 30.11 to earn the silver.
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey collected bronze in this race, with the 50m free yet to come next.
For Tang, this gold is a redemption of sorts after having been upset in the 200m breaststroke. Although Tang entered as the favorite, it was 15-year-old Lyu Qinyao who touched first to earn the gold.
Both Tang and Haughey reached the 2023 Asian Games podium in this 50m sprint, with Tang earning gold in 29.96 and Haughey taking bronze in 30.36, the Hong Kong national record.
WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINAL
- World Record – 23.61, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2023
- Asian Record – 23.97, Liu Xiang (CHN), 2021
- CHN Record – 23.97, Liu Xiang (CHN), 2021
GOLD – Wu Qingfeng, 24.21
SILVER – Cheng Yujie, 24.23
BRONZE – Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 24.84 & Lu Yue, 24.84
22-year-old Wu Qingfeng was too quick to catch in this women’s 50m freestyle, registering a speedy 24.21 to top the podium.
That time was just off the two-time relay bronze medalist from Paris’ lifetime best of 24.18 scored in May of this year to render her China’s #3 performer of all time. It was also just off the 24.26 which garnered her the silver medalist at this year’s World Championships.
Cheng Yujie touched a hair later in 24.23 for bronze, slicing .05 off her previous PB of 24.28 logged for bronze behind Wu in Singapore.
And, we saw a tie between Haughey, who had only been out of the water a handful of minutes from the 50m free, and Lu Yue for the bronze.
That wasn’t the only tie among the field, as Zhang Yufei and Wu Yunhan, just 13 years of age, touched simultaneously in 24.93 to share 5th place honors.
MEN’S 1500 FREE – FINAL
- World Record – 14:30.67, Bobby Finke (USA), 2024
- Asian Record – 14:31.02, Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
- CHN Record – 14:31.02, Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
GOLD – Zhang Zhanshuo, 14:52.73
SILVER – Fei Liwei, 14:56.08
BRONZE – Li Chengyu, 15:03.50
18-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo successfully captured his 5th medal of these Chinese National Games, standing atop this men’s 1500m free podium.
After sweeping the individual freestyle races spanning the 200m, 400m, 800m and also earning gold in the men’s 4x200m free relay, the teen touched in 14:52.73 to beat the pack.
Only Fei Liwei joined Zhang under the 15:00 barrier in 14:56.08 and Li Chengyu bagged the bronze in 15:03.50.
Zhang’s time this evening represents a new lifetime best, shaving over a second off the 14:54.06 he established earlier this year.
How now overtakes Korea’s Kim Woomin to rank #1 in the world. He will be racing the 400m IM in the very next event.
2025-2026 LCM Men 1500 FREE
Liebmann
14:39.67
| 2 | Sven Schwarz | GER | 14:40.93 | 04/17 |
| 3 | Oliver Klemet | GER | 14:41.71 | 04/10 |
| 4 | KAITO TABUCHI | JPN | 14:45.57 | 03/22 |
| 5 | Florian WELLBROCK | GER | 14:50.58 | 05/23 |
MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL
- World Record – 4:02.50, Leon Marchand (FRA), 2023
- Asian Record – 4:06.06, Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 2016
- CHN Record – 4:09.10, Wang Shun, 2013
GOLD – Wang Shun, 4:14.90
SILVER – Huang Zhiwei, 4:16.06
BRONZE – He Yubo, 4:18.36
Nothing too crazy transpired in the men’s 400m IM final, as no competitor dipped under the 4:10 barrier in the medal-contesting race.
Veteran Wang Shun successfully doubled up on his impressive 200m IM victory from earlier in the meet, putting up 4:14.90 to clear the field by over a second.
Huang Zhiwei was next to the wall in 4:16.06, with He Yubo also landing on the podium in 4:18.36, good enough for bronze.
Zhang wound up not swimming in the final, so there was an empty lane.
WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL
- World Record – 4:23.65, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
- Asian Record – 4:28.43, Ye Shiwen (CHN), 2012
- CHN Record – 4:28.43, Ye Shiwen (CHN), 2012
GOLD – Yu Zidi, 4:34.33
SILVER – Chang Mohan, 4:34.59
BRONZE – Ke Wenxi, 4:36.00
13-year-old phenom Yu Zidi was being chased down by 14-year-old Chang Mohan in the final stretch of the women’s 400m IM but the former held on to ultimately touch in 4:34.33 for the gold.
Chang was only .26 behind, clocking 4:34.59 for the silver and Ke Winxi earned bronze in 4:36.00. Of note, Li Bingjie placed 4th in 4:38.65.
Yu’s effort this evening was within striking distance of her best-ever performance of 4:33.76 registered for a 4th place finish at this year’s World Championships. That rendered Yu China’s 6th-best performer to date.
As for fellow teenager Chang, she improved upon the 4:37.43 notched earlier this year.
The pair now take over the top two slots in the season’s world rankings.
2025-2026 LCM Women 400 IM
MCINTOSH
4:27.31
| 2 | Yu Zidi | CHN | 4:33.33 | 03/21 |
| 3 | Mary-Sophie Harvey | CAN | 4:34.29 | 05/28 |
| 4 | Chang Mohan | CHN | 4:34.59 | 11/17 |
| 5 | Ke Wenxi | CHN | 4:34.91 | 03/21 |
MEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL
- World Record – 3:26.78, USA, 2021
- Asian Record – 3:27.01, CHN, 2023
- CHN Record – 3:27.01, CHN, 2023
GOLD – Hubei, 3:34.39
SILVER – Guangdong, 3:36.02
BRONZE – Jiangsu, 3:36.78
The combination of Wang Zicheng, Yan Zibei, Sun Jiajun and Xu Haibo stopped the clock at 3:34.39 to give Hubei the men’s 4x100m medley relay win.
Wang split 54.19 followed by Yan’s 58.37. Then, Sun punched 52.62 with Xu anchoring in 49.21.
WOMEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL
- World Record – 3:49.34, USA, 2025
- Asian Record – 3:52.19, CHN, 2009
- CHN Record – 3:52.19, CHN, 2009
GOLD – Zhejiang, 3:57.97
SILVER – Shanghai, 4:00.65
BRONZE – Jiangsu, 4:01.24
Comprised of Lu Xingchen, Ye Shiwen, Yu Yiting and Wu Qingfeng, the Zhejiang squad ran away with the women’s medley relay in 3:57.97, the sole time of the field under 4:00.
Lu opened in 59.87 before handing it over to Ye who notched 1:08.44. Yu was next in 56.30 and Wu’s split of 53.36 sealed the deal.
During the men’s 200 back medal ceremony 2 days ago, I noticed bronze medalist Wang Yutian from Hubei standing next to a coach that looked familiar to me, but couldn’t remember his name.
@Braden Keith, did this guy used to work for a college team in the US or something?
I also found a picture of him during nationals earlier this year back in May.
Jesse Moore
Yep. That’s Jesse Moore. We asked him about what he was doing in China once and his response was super aggressive. Since China is kind of a black box, I’m not sure what other info we’re going to get about the setup, but will keep trying.
He got pushed out at Cal, right? Thought it was weird how once the staff combined he went off to do a college recruiting business and now at China. I think McKeever was with him for a bit too
Two folks who burned every bridge and couldn’t find a job in America anymore. Perfect pair.
13 (Yu’s age) + 14 (Chang’s age) = 27 < 31 (Wang’s age)
For Men’s 400 IM, this is a story about how the things came into a total mess.
Zhejiang has no good male breaststroker except Xie and Wang. The male breaststroker is 1:02 level, even Xu may not compensate for it. The problem was that Xie and Wang were contenders for 400 IM. Especially, Wang was carrying Zhejiang’s hope of gold. However, Xie’s current stamina is not very good so he dropped (or was asked to) 400 IM for the final. As Xu had two events during the evening, to make sure he could create the most advantage, they (the ones who are in charge of Zhejiang swimming team) asked Wang to swim the prelim as they put the 1:02-level… Read more »
Yu’s results are absolutely insane for her age, but her 400 IM time is not on par with the 200 IM. I think most of us expected more from her in 4 IM after the 2:07.41.
Breaststroke looked great in 200 IM, regressed back to Singapore here. Not sure what happened.
Yu’s 800 free time was slower than last year PB as well. Maybe just not too focusing practise to longer distance.
No Pan, Qin, or Xu in any of the relays did I read that right?
YES.The team led by Pan and Xu did not make it to the finals
You are right. They messed up in the prelim. Breaststroke DSQ.
Ye Shiwen got the gold medal in the event of WOMEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY. It is said that if she couldn’t be better than now for one year, she would be retired (and in theory, this time she couldn’t return again …)
If I was anyone else I would give up on the 400IM because WTF are these young kids?!?!
Zhang is impressive, his versatility. But I would have love to see him do that 400 IM 😂