Qin Haiyang Continues Breaststroke Tear With 2:07.55

2023 CHINESE NATIONALS

• May 1st – May 8th
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships Qualifier
• Results via Asian Media
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap

Qin Haiyang already had a world-rocking swim at these 2023 Chinese Nationals, having taken the men’s 100m breast in a new national record and Asian continental record of 57.93.

But the 23-year-old didn’t rest on his laurels, ripping a season-best time of 2:07.55 to top the men’s 200m breast podium.

Qin stopped the clock well over a second ahead of the rest of the field, with Dong Zhihao getting to the wall in 2:09.17 while Yu Zongda hit 2:12.27 for bronze.

Qin split 28.74/32.94 (1:01.68)/33.19/32.68 en route to shaving .05 off the 2:07.60 he produced at the Chinese Spring Championships in March. His lifetime best remains at the 2:07.35 clocked way back at the 2017 Chinese National Games.

Of note, this evening’s runner-up, 17-year-old Dong is the unofficial World Junior Record holder in this 2breast event and the first junior male to have dipped under the 2:09 barrier. He clocked a mark of 2:08.83 behind Qin at the aforementioned Chinese Spring Championships,

With his swim tonight, Qin remains ranked #2 in the world, sitting only behind Russia’s Kirill Prigoda who wears the crown with his 2:07.47 notched last month.

The women’s 50m free saw the trio of podium placers all get into the 24-second zone. Cheng Yujie led the way with a gold medal-worthy result of 24.53 while Wu Qingfeng clocked 24.56 for silver and Zhang Yufei bagged bronze in 24.62.

Zhang already ranks 3rd in the world with her season-best of 24.40 while Cheng now inserts herself into the rankings in slot #8.

Sun Jiajun got his hand on the wall first in the men’s 50m fly, stopping the clock in a result of 23.41. But the 22-year-old wasn’t alone, as Wang Changhao was right there with him to tie for the gold. Chen Juner settled for bronze in 23.70.

35-year-old comeback swimmer Wu Peng finished 5th in this 50m fly in a time of 23.86.

Additional Winners

• Ye Shiwen took the women’s 200m breast in a time of 2:22.44, beating her competitors by over 5 seconds. That checks in as a season-best and now renders Ye 4th in the world on the season.
• Fei Liwei already took the 1500m free at this competition and doubled up with an 800m free victory this evening. Fei produced a winning result of 7:49.97 to shut out a couple of teenagers. Liu Peixin, born in 2006, hit 7:53.38 while Zhang Zhanshuo, born in 2007, logged 7:54.26 for bronze.
• Notable splits on the men’s 4x100m free relay race included Wang Haoyu leading off in 48.17 and newly-minted 100m free Asian record holder Pan Zhanle splitting 47.76.
• The women’s 4x200m free relay included splits of Li Bingjie leading off her squad in 1:56.37, Li Jiaping leading off in 1:56.56 and Liu Yaxin splitting 1:56.36 on her relay.