2017 FINA WORLD CUP – TOKYO
- Tuesday, Nov 14 – Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017
- Tokyo, Japan
- Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center
- Short Course Meters (SCM) Format
- Series Points Through Beijing
- Series Money Lists Through Beijing
- Live results
China’s Li Bingjie snapped a World Junior Record on day 2 of the Tokyo World Cup, going 3:59.14 to win gold and knock off the former junior mark.
Prior to November 2017, FINA had only listed the record with a ‘benchmark’ time of 4:00.56, meaning technically no one held that World Junior Record. At the World Cup stop in Beijing last weekend, fellow Chinese swimmer Wang Jianjiahe went 3:59.69 to officially take over the record, though her swim wasn’t technically ratified by the time Li broke it.
It only took five days for Li to better that mark by half a second, and she takes over the record in what should be the final 400 free swum on the World Cup series. That’s because the new World Cup format only features each event at two of the three stops in any given cluster. With the women’s 400 happening in Beijing and Tokyo, it won’t be a part of the meet lineup in Singapore, the series finale this weekend.
Though she’s one of the fastest juniors in history, Li hasn’t been able to crack any other WJRs yet, mostly because superstar Katie Ledecky has set them extraordinarily high. However, the 15-year-old Li still has more than two full calendar years to continue breaking WJRs until she ages out.
I wonder if Li Bingjie has a picture or poster of Katie Ledecky at the pool or in her locker or bedroom to spur her on.
She will beat Katie in either the 400 or the 800 in Tokyo.
You heard it here first.
I doubt that, unless ledecky slows down considerably. I still see ledecky swimming a 3:58 400 free and sub 8:10 800 free (something like 8:08/8:09) in 2020 in tokyo. Yeah slower than her world records but still crazy fast.
Unless li binjie drops time from her current 4:01 low 400 free to a 3:57 and her current best of 8:15 in the 800 free to a sub 8:10 which are both easier said than done, then i dont see her beating ledecky.