On day 7 the 2011 Chinese Intercity Championships, Zhang Qibing completed a sweep of the butterfly events with a 52.69 in the boys 100 fly.
Qibing took the win in 52.69, which is just .05 behind what he was at Chinese Nationals in September. He now has the two-fastest swims by a Chinese man this year. Next year will be a tough battle for the third leg of the Chinese medley relay, but Qibing has the inside track. That Chinese medley looks like possible medal contenders headed towards 2016.
In the girls 200 back, Chen Jie continued a huge breakout meet. Before this meet, there is nary a record of her swimming results, and now she sits in the world’s top 30 in the 200 back (and 40 in the 100 back). She took the win today in 2:10.29, just out-touching Yu Yaping – who also went a career-best time (2:10.32).
Shao Yiwen won the girls 800 free in 8:25.21. That’s the 18th-best performance in the world this year, and the 3rd time in 2011 that she’s been better than 8:27. Surprisingly, none of those three times were done at the World Championships. There’s an interesting parallel with male distance star Sun Yang, who has similarly been able to put together a huge number of elite-level swims that far exceeds what distance swimmers are normally able to do. Shao’s challenge now will be to put up that one, special swim at the right meet like Sun has been able to do. Li Xuanxu took silver in 8:28.82, which ranks her 18th in the world this year.
And finally, He Jianbin took his 4th gold medal of the meet with a win in the boys 50 free. His 22.69 is another career-best swim for him. He seems to have an Olympic spot pretty well in the bag in the sprint free relays.
Medal Results – Day 7
Girls 200 back
Chen Jie 2’10″29
Yu Yaping 2’10″32
Yao Yige 2’10″65
Boys 100 fly
Zhang Qibing 52″69
Pu Xueyu 54″23
Jiang Huan 54″60
Girls 800 free
Shao Yiwen 8’25″21
Xin XIn 8’28″82
Li Xuanxun 8’31″52
Boys 50 free
He Jianbin 22″69
Zeng Xianliang 22″90
Wang Qian 23″18
