Li Bingjie Continues Chinese Nationals Momentum With 200 Free Personal Best

2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 17-24, 2025
• Shenzhen, China
• LCM (50 meters)
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Results

Day four of the 2025 Chinese National Swimming Championships brought additional powerful performances as athletes tried their best to qualify for this summer’s World Championships.

This competition represents the sole qualifying opportunity and the top two swimmers who achieve the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard in each event will be selected.

Already the winner of the women’s 400m free in a new Asian Record of 3:59.99 and the 1500m free last night, 23-year-old Li Bingije added another gold to her haul as she topped the 200m free podium.

The Olympic medalist stopped the clock at 1:55.52 to register one of two sub-1:56 outings of the final.

Liu Yaxin was next to the wall in 1:55.96 followed by Yang Peiqi who rounded out the podium in 1:56.59. Yu Yiting placed 4th overall in 1:57.00.

As for Li, she split 27.49/29.60/29.66/28.77 to get the job done, slicing .10 off her previous PB of 1:55.62 from 2 years ago in the process. Liu has been as fast as 1:54.96 in her career while Yang’s time tonight is a PB by just under half a second.

Li ranks 4th in the world on the season.

The men’s 200m butterfly final saw a trio of contenders all clear the 1:56 threshold en route to making it onto the podium.

21-year-old Xu Fang led the charge, firing off a time of 1:55.22 for a monster new personal best.

Entering this competition, Xu’s career-swiftest outing was represented by the 1:56.77 logged at the 2021 Chinese National Games.

Flash forward to tonight, however, and Xu split 25.94/30.06/29.79/29.43 to become China’s 6th-fastest man in history in this event.

National record holder Chen Juner cranked out a speedy 55.48 front half before settling for silver in 1:55.31 to also qualify for the World Championships. Wang Xizhe was also in the mix at 1:55.97 for bronze.

Top 5 Chinese Men’s LCM 100 Butterfly Performers All-Time

1. Chen Juner – 1:54.16, 2023
2. Wu Peng – 1:54.35, 2008
3. Chen Yin – 1:54.43, 2012
4. Niu Guangsheng – 1:55.05, 2023
5. Li Zhuhao – 1:55.09, 2017
6. Xu Fang – 1:55.22, 2025

Breaststroking ace Qin Haiyang raced in the 50m sprint of the discipline tonight, taking the victory in 26.71 over Sun Jiajun who touched in 26.98 for silver. Both men dipped under the World Aquatics ‘A’ cut of 27.33, although Qin was faster in last night’s semi-final, posting 26.54 to rank 3rd in the world this season.

The women’s 200m fly semi-final saw Yu Liyan take the top spot in a solid swim of 2:08.43 while Yu Zidi, just 12 years of age, was right behind in 2:08.52. Look for a follow-up post highlighting this emerging star’s performance.

Additional Notes

• The men’s 800m freestyle final was void of any World Championships qualifiers as no swimmer dipped under the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 7:48.66 needed for Singapore. Zhang Zhanshuo was the top performer, hitting 7:49.71 for gold. That handily defeated Fei Liwei and Liu Peixin who captured the minor medals. The former snagged silver in 7:53.59 while the latter bagged bronze in 7:53.90.
• In men’s 100m freestyle semi-final action, a trio of swimmers were all under the 49-second barrier to put their hats in the ring for tomorrow night’s main event. Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Pan Zhanle was 3rd-quickest tonight in 48.77 to flank top-seeded performer He Junyi who registered 48.49. Liu Wadi will also flank He with a semi swim of 48.55.
• The women’s 50m back semi-final saw Wan Letian capture the pole position in 27.54, while Wang Xueer and Lu Xingchen are right behind in swims of 27.65 and 27.95, respectively.
• Olympic champion Wang Chun beat the pack in the men’s 200m IM semi-final, establishing himself as the man to beat in a casual swim of 2:00.24.
• Notable mixed medley relay splits:
  • Xu Jiayu – 52.49 backstroke, matching is gold medal-winning time from yesterday
  • Pan Zhanle – 47.23 (22.29/24.94) anchor, giving us a hint as to what may be in store for tomorrow night’s final
  • Chen Juner – 50.87 fly leg after already qualifying in the 200m fly

World Championships Qualifiers Through Day 4

• Li Bingjie – women’s 400m free, 1500m free, 200m free
• Yang Peiqi – women’s 400m free, 1500m free
• Pan Zhanle – men’s 400m free, 200m free
• Fei Liwei – men’s 400m free
• Qin Haiyang – men’s 100m breast, 50m breast
• Dong Zhihao – men’s 100m breast
• Yu Yiting – women’s 100m fly, 200m IM
• Zhang Yufei – women’s 100m fly
• Yu Zidi – women’s 200m IM
• Zhang Zhanshuo – men’s 200m free
• Wan Letian – women’s 100m back
• Peng Xuwei – women’s 100m back
• Xu Jiayu – men’s 100m back
• Tang Qianting – women’s 100m breast
• Liu Yaxin – women’s 200m free
• Xu Fang – men’s 200m fly
• Chen Juner – men’s 200m fly