2016 CHINESE OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
- April 3rd-10th, 2016
- Foshan, Guangdong, China
- Foshan Century Lotus Swimming & Diving Hall
- Live video
- Full results
Finals
With Ning Zetao resting on the laurels of his semi-final 47.96 in the men’s 100 free and scratching from the final, the battle was up to the rest of China’s men’s sprint group to battle both for the second individual spot as well as spots on China’s 400 free relay for Rio.
It was Yu Hexin who stepped up in the final to win in 48.47 and give China a viable second leg to a medal-worthy sprint relay. That swim is a full second faster than Yu swam in Kazan at last year’s World Championships as China’s second sprinter.
He was one of a pair to go sub-49 on Thursday in Foshan; Lin Yongqing swam 48.96, with He Jianbin finishing 3rd in 49.17. With a big gap to the 4th-place finisher in the final, those three are the likely candidates to represent China in Rio, with He taking the spot of Xy Qiheng from worlds to the projected benefit for the Chinese.
That was one of three individual event finals for the Chinese – a list that included one women’s event: the 200 fly. The Chinese aren’t as powerful at the top in this event as they once were, but they remain deep, with 5 swimmers going sub-2:09.
The pack was lead by Zhou Yilin, who swam 2:06.56 to be half-a-second better than Zhang Yufei(2:07.13). The World Record holder Liu Zige finished in just 5th place in this final with a 2:08.86. With that time being almost two seconds slower than the top two, the Chinese will be hard-pressed to make a spot for her in this race in Rio even with their fluid selection process.
In the men’s 200 breaststroke, after a sluggish semi-final, the country’s top swimmer in the event Mao Feilan broke through with a 2:09.98. He was not only the only swimmer under 2:10, but nobody else cleared 2:11 in the event. Li Xiang placed 2nd in 2:11.01, which is under the FINA A time.
Semi-Finals & Relays
- In the women’s 100 free semis, both heat winners came from outside lanes. In semi-final 1, that was Zhejiang’s Zhumeng Hui, who swam 54.53. In semi-final 2, that was Liaoning Province’s Qiu Yuhan, who swam 53.90. Just like in the 200 on Wednesday, the Chinese women are lining up for a much-improved Rio relay based on results of the 100 that had 6 swimmers go 54.7-or-better.
- In the men’s 200 back semi-finals, Xu Jiayu from Zhejiang swam 1:56.51 to qualify 1st through to the final. He was followed closely by his training partner Li Guangyuan in 1:58.18.
- Two swimmers stood clearly out from the field in the women’s 200 breaststroke semi-finals, and both raced in the 1st heat. Yu Jing Yao qualified 1st in 2:26.39, and last year’s World Championships bronze medalist in the event Shi Jing Lin qualified 2nd in 2:28.25. Nobody else was under 2:30.
- In the men’s 200 IM, nobody cleared the FINA A standard, but last year’s Worlds bronze medalist Wang Shun qualified 2nd through to the final in 2:01.94.
Why is Sun yang skipping the meet?
Hank – his injury from January is still lingering: http://swimswam.com/chinese-national-championships-will-begin-sunday-no-sun-yang/
Does skipping the final allows Ning Zetao to avoid any antidoping control?
This was the first question I asked, as well
Well, not all names of Meldonium were open, maybe he is on the list?
he can of course pretense his country, he just want swim faster in the Rio.
Bobo – other sources reported that before the finals Ning Zetao was fighting a 38.8C (or about 102F) fever and vomiting.
He has been battling his stomach problem since he was training in Australia too. Other sources reported that he was pretty sick when he swan the semi, and his fever and stomach got worse after that.
And as you said it yesterday, France without drama and useless polemics would not be France.
By the way what’s the use of these Chinese “olympic trials” if everyone does as he pleases? 😆
I presume that Sun Yang and Ning Zetao are already qualified for Rio.
The others have only to impress the coaches?
That’s a curious system.
Every nation really has its very own qualifying system.
I don’t know if another nation will try in the future to copy the French system version 2016. 🙂
USA really has the best way to qualify its swimmers. No drama. No need of being a Stanford student to understand. Clear system for the fans. Much transparency. Swim fast, finish in the top 2 and you will be happy.
Bobo, USA is unique in having the likelihood of 2 qualifiers in every individual event plus the depth to ensure that competition for these positions should be fierce in most events. More importantly, US Swimming/USOC are financially independent of funding pressures from the public purse.
The latter is a present and ever growing reality for almost every other swimming nation and almost every other Olympic nation ….. and its only going to get tougher. The public appetite for public expenditure on sport is ever decreasing, and sports that aren’t delivering will be looking down the barrel. Less money means NOCs are going to be playing “justify every selection”.
I expect that if the Olympics do survive through to Tokyo;… Read more »
China probably employs the closest selection criteria to US compared to other nations. Except China lacks the depth in some events, where there is a clear favorite who may bypass the selection (Sun, Ning, etc).
In most of the events, especially the lady’s side, the top two spots are fiercely contested. The uncertainty and excitement are high throughout the trials.
No way China employs closest selection criteria to US compared to other nations.
It cannot be further than the truth.
Sun Yang and Ning Zetao did not finish top two in the trials but will go to Rio to swim in their events, how is that close to US selection criteria?
Fu Yuanhui might also even swim 100 back in Rio even though she didn’t finish top two in the trials.
In fact, it is Australia who’s closest with the do or die trials. No second chance, unlike France or any other countries.
Jacques, Zetao scratching the 100 free final, it’s not a drama for you? 🙂
Bobo,
That’s why I said “almost zero drama” 🙂
He scratched probably to avoid instant drug testing!!!!
JC, you clearly have not done your research. Do you know WHY he got a drug ban? It’s because he ate some lamb skewers from a street vendor when he was a teenager. Muscle building drugs are often used in livestock in china in order to feed the massive population. He was careless, yes, but did not willingly dope, and also had only a small amount in his system from the meat, and so was let off with a 1 year suspension. Many athletes in China test positive to doping because of these drugs in the food, and so over the years the sporting organisations have now prevented athletes from eating meat that is not supplied (and tested) but the… Read more »
I am LOVING this week where Australia/Canada/China/Japan trials are hapening.
Why?
Numerous major quality swims with almost zero drama.
Compared that with last week’s French trials where the drama was maximum but the swims were very poor quality with an exception of just one event.
The drama is the fast swims. It is going to be a tough Olympics with the medals parsed fairly evenly among continents.
So Ning zetao qualified for the olympics without swimming in the finals?
Yes, his time in the semi was 47.96, which was the best compare to other Chinese swimmers. Unlike the US or Australia, China has different qualification system.