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/Day 8 Recap
- Meet Central
- Results
- Livestream
The dust is beginning to settle from the 2025 Chinese National Games where we saw some fierce performances from the domestic contingent across the eight-day swimming program.
We’ll be giving you the key highlights and significant swims in a forthcoming competition digest, but in the meantime, we can report that 30-year-old Yan Zibei has confirmed his retirement.
Asian media said this year’s competition, Yan’s fourth National Games, would be the breaststroke ace’s last meet and he indeed ended his career on a high note.
Representing Hubei, Yan collected four medals, including two individual and two relays. He clocked 59.49 for 100m breast bronze, followed by a time of 27.04 to secure silver in the 50m breast.
On the relay front, he registered 58.65 as a member of the mixed medley that earned bronze and concluded his campaign with a mark of 58.37 on the breaststroke leg of the gold medal-winning men’s medley relay.
Looking back on his career, Yan broke onto the scene at the 2017 Chinese National Swimming Championships when he scored a new national record of 58.92 in the 100m breast. At the World Championships that same year, he put up a time of 27.25 to also notched a new Chinese standard in that race.
He was a member of the silver medal-earning mixed medley relay at the 2020 Olympic Games but suffered a wrist fracture during the lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games. That factored into Yan’s finishing 4th at his nation’s Olympic Trials, missing making the team for Paris.
Meanwhile, Yan has been eclipsed by world record holder Qin Haiyang, the 26-year-old who swept the breaststroke events at the 2023 World Championships and served as China’s breaststroke relay member in Paris, taking home a gold and a silver.
Yan retires as China’s #3 performer in the 50m breast (26.86, 2019), #3 performer in the 100m breast (58.63, 2019) and #3 performer in the 200m breast (2:08.75, 2017).
Yan’s words to his teammates after revealing his retirement included, “Go forward, carrying our dreams.
“You must never forget your original aspirations. You may experience lows and highs, but you must never lose your determination to win.” (NF News)
4×200 mainstay Ji Xinjie also announced retirement
Kinda went out in peak form still. Splitting 58.3 and dipping is certainly something kinda like Cameron VD Burgh but best of luck to whatever he has next.
Yan Zibei won the bronze medal in the men’s 100m breaststroke at the 2019 World Championships.He was also part of the team that won the gold medal in the mixed-gender 4x100m medley relay at the 2023 World Championships,though he only participated in the preliminaries.He once held the Asian records for both the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
In China,Yan Zibei is often referred to as”Captain Yan.”He has always been very caring towards younger teammates and selflessly shares his athletic experience with them.
He is currently about to take up the position of head coach for the youth team at the Hubei Provincial Swimming Team in China,to assist his mentor,Zheng Shan.
Yan Zibei is very good at singing and dancing.He is a… Read more »