Pan Zhanle, Li Bingjie Show Freestyle Prowess On Day Three Of Chinese Nationals

2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

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

Day three 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 men’s 400m free victor here, 20-year-old Pan Zhanle doubled up with a gold in the 200m freestyle to continue his impressive campaign.

Pan stopped the clock at a time of 1:45.45, splitting 24.60/27.06/27.83/25.96 in the process.

He notched the sole time of the field under the 1:46 barrier, with Zhang Zhanshuo next to the wall in 1:46.39 followed by Ji Xinjie who nabbed bronze in 1:46.53. Wang Shun finished 4th overall in 1:47.07.

Pan has been as fast as 1:44.65 in his career, a time he posted at the 2023 Chinese Nationals to become China’s #2 performer of all time. Only fellow Olympic champion Sun Yang has been faster, having registered the national record of 1:44.39 at the 2017 World Championships.

Both Pan and Zhang cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 1:46.70 needed to qualify for the individual 200m free for this summer’s World Championships, while Pan now represents the 7th-swiftest performer on the planet at the moment.

After cranking out a new Chinese national and Asian continental record of 3:59.99 in the women’s 400m free, 23-year-old Li Bingjie impressed yet again en route to winning the 1500m freestyle tonight.

Li got to the wall in a time of 15:43.94 to register the sole time of the competition under the 16:00 barrier.

Yang Peqi touched next in 16:10.21 followed by Gao Qeizhong who rounded out the podium in 16:15.73.

As for Li, her 15:43.94 outing represents a new lifetime best, shaving over a second off her previous PB of 15:45.71 logged two years ago. She remains China’s #2 performer in history, with only national record holder Wang Jianjiahe having been quicker (15:41.49, 2021). She also represents the world’s 11th-swiftest woman in history.

Li now checks in as the #2 performer in the world this season while both she and Yang qualify for Singapore.

Olympic multi-medalist Xu Jiayu got it done for gold in the men’s 100m back, putting up a decisive victory with an outing of 52.49.

Xu split 25.39/27.10 to produce his fastest time of the season and become #6 in the world.

He was the only man to qualify for the World Championships out of tonight’s final, as runner-up Wang Gukailai missed the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 53.94 with a silver medal-garnering 54.11. Yu Jingming was 3rd in tonight’s contest in 54.65.

Two women qualified for the World Championships in their 100m back final, however.

Wan Letian led the field with a time of 59.21, a mark within striking distance of her best-ever 59.02 from last year.

Peng Xuwei also qualified with a silver medal-earning 59.49. Qian Xinan bagged the bronze in 1:00.21.

The women will need to step things up a gear come Singapore, however, as the top performers in the world at the moment are all under the 58- and 59-second barriers.

Finally, Olympic multi-medalist Tang Qianting did her thing to win the women’s 100m breaststroke final, posting 1:05.57 as the winner.

The 21-year-old ripped a head-turning 30.00 opener before backing off to 35.57 to close out her performance and qualify for the World Championships.

Yang Chang was well behind in 1:07.23 for silver as Yu Jingao registered 1:07.88 as the bronze medalist.

Tang owns the Chinese national record at the 1:04.39 registered in April of last year. In Paris, her result of 1:05.54 rendered her the silver medalist in the event.

Additional Notes

• Qin Haiyang produced a new championship record as he took the top spot in the men’s 50m breaststroke semi-final. Qin hit 26.54 to lead the pack by over half a second to rank 3rd in the world with the final yet to come.
• The women’s 200m free semi-finals saw Liu Yaxin turn in a time of 1:57.04 to lead a foursome of sub-1:58 performers. Li Jiaping put her hat in the ring with a semi outing of 1:57.20, just .01 ahead of Yu Yiting who touched in 1:57.21. After her 1500m free gold, Li Bingjie is also in the mix with a 4th-seeded 1:57.36.
• Xu Fang registered a solid semi-final result of 1:56.27 to hold a narrow advantage over Wang Xizhe‘s 1:56.43 in the men’s 200m fly. Chen Juner will also challenge for the top two slots in tomorrow’s final, carrying a semi swim of 1:57.56. Chen is the Chinese national record holder in this event, owning a PB of 1:54.16 from 2023. Xu’s outing here hacked half a second off his previous PB while Wang’s performance was within striking distance of his 1:56.05 PB from 2023.

World Championships Qualifiers Through Day 3

• Li Bingjie – women’s 400m free, 1500m free
• Yang Peiqi – women’s 400m free
• Pan Zhanle – men’s 400m free, 200m free
• Fei Liwei – men’s 400m free
• Qin Haiyang – men’s 100m 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
• Yang Peiqi – women’s 1500m 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