Fu Yuanhui Wins 50 Back; Ning Zetao Misses 50 Fly Final at Chinese Nat

2018 Chinese National Championships

• October 13th-17th, 2018
• Shandong, Zhejiang, China
• No full results available.

Day 2 of the 2018 Chinese National Championships saw the return of the once-exiled Ning Zetao to major competition. Zetao, the National Record holder in the 50 and 100 freestyles in long course, didn’t race at the 2017 World Championships or 2018 Asian Games. The 25-year old was the 2015 World Champion in the 100 free, but was kicked off the Chinese National Team after running into issues involving sponsorships.

On Sunday, Zetao swam the 50 fly preliminaries, but he missed the final with just a 12th place swim (25.08) in prelims.

Another big name missed the podium in the women’s 1500 free. Li Bingjie, holder of the Chinese (and Asian) Records in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles, won the latter of those races in 15:52.87. On Monday, she took out the race in the lead, but eventually faded all the way to 4th, finishing 24-seconds worse than her best time. Zhang Keyou took the win instead in 16:13.48.

The other highlight of the day came in the women’s 50 back, where Fu Yuanhui won in 27.69. She was the 2015 World Champion, and 2013 and 2017 Worlds silver medalist, in that event. Her countrymate Liu Xiang, the World Record holder, is skipping this meet, as are fellow national stars Sun Yang and Xu Jiayu. That swim for Fu was just .01 seconds slower than her time at the Asian Games (silver) earlier this year.

The win for Fu comes a day after she missed the final in the 100 free, placing 12th in prelims in 56.33. Fu says that she took an extended training break after the Asian Games, and so was pleased with that result none-the-less.

We were unable to locate full results. Winners and select other results, assembled from Chinese news reports, are below.

Day 2 Results

Women’s 50 Back – Final

1. Fu Yuanhui – 27.69
2. Chen Jie – 28.14
3. Cheng Haihua – 28.35

Women’s 50 Fly – Final

1. Zhang Yuxi – 26.70
2. Zhang Sishi – 26.86

Women’s 1500 Free – Final

1. Zhang Keyou – 16:13.48
2. Hou Yawen
4. Li Bingjie – 16:26.78

Men’s 200 Free – Final

1. Si Chengzhong – 1:48.71

Women’s 200 IM – Final

1. Zhou Min – 2:14.55

Men’s 50 Fly – Final

1. Zhao Xianjian – 23.81

Men’s 200 Back – Final

1. Wang Yutian – 1:59.15
2. Li Guangyuan – 1:59.29
3. Hou Yuchen – 2:01.59

Men’s 400 Free Relay – Final

1. Guangdong – 3:20.97
2. Shanghai – 3:21.02

Day 1 Results

Women’s 100 Free – Final

1. Wang Jianjiahe – 54.77
2. Ai Yanhan – 54.85
3. Li Bingjie – 55.14
4. Zhang Yufei – 55.16

Men’s 200 IM – Final

1. Qin Haiyang – 1:57.50

Men’s 100 Beast – Final

1. Wang Lizhuo – 59.95

Men’s 1500 Free – Final

1. Cheong Long – 15:16.13

Women’s 200 Back – Final

1. Jiang Yuru – 2:13.08

Women’s 50 Breast – Final

1. Suo Ran – 31.66

Men’s 800 Free Relay

1. Zhejiang