Lu Ying
Lu Ying is a Chinese sprint butterfly specialist originally from the city Shanghai. Born Jan. 22, 1989 Ying debuted for China at the 2010 Asian Games, but she made her first big statement at the 2012 London Olympics when she won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly. Ying studied Humanistic and Social Studies of Sport at Tongji University in Shanghai, and when she’s not training in the pool or studying, Ying enjoys shopping and watching movies.
Ying has spoken out about the Chinese philosophy on training, which is shocking in itself for a Chinese athlete to speak out against the nation. She mentioned that Chinese training has its limits since it puts so much pressure on performance, and when she spent time in Australia, Ying was impressed the Australian athletes’ relaxation and enthusiasm for swimming.
Lead up to the 2012 London Olympics
Ying was basically an unknown name or force within the swimming world until 2010 when she made it onto the medal podium at the Asian Games. She took bronze in the 50-meter butterfly to earn her first international medal. The following year she competed at her first World Championships, which were held in her native town of Shanghai. There she finished third in the 100-meter fly, and was just hundredths of a second from breaking 57 seconds.
In 2012 Ying made the Chinese Olympic Team, which was her first Olympic Games. Competing in the 100-meter butterfly, Ying shocked when she finished only behind American Dana Volmer to win an Olympic silver medal.
2013 World Championships
At her second World Championships of her swimming career, Ying travelled to Barcelona as a part of China’s National Team. She swam her signature event on the 4×100-meter medley relay, which helped the Chinese relay squad win a silver medal.
2015 World Championships
Leading into the 2016 Olympics Ying was among a long list of extremely talented sprint butterfly specialists. In Kazan at the 2015 World Championships, Ying competed in both the 50 and 100-meter butterfly events, where she finished third in both races to pick up two more World Championship medals.
In the 100 fly, she split the race well, but didn’t have the going-out speed to top Jeanette Ottesen’s silver medal finish. In the 50 fly Ying battled Ottesen for the silver medal, since Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom had a commanding lead, but Ying couldn’t quite close on Ottesen quick enough to overtake her for a silver medal. Ying’s outstanding 100-meter butterfly split on the 4×100 medley relay helped the Chinese relay team win a gold medal topping second-place Sweden by more than one second.
