CHINESE LONG COURSE INVITATIONAL
- Thursday, December 31st – Sunday, January 3rd
- Shijiazhuang City, China
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Results via Asian Media
Yesterday while competing on day 2 of this Chinese Invitational, whose format mimics Tokyo 2020 with prelims at night followed by finals in the morning, Zhang Yufei posted a top-seeded mark of 56.18 in the women’s 100m fly.
Zhang already owns the Chinese national record with the 55.62 she put up just this past September, so all eyes were on the 22-year-old as she competed in the final of the event this morning.
Although she remained above the 56-second border, Zhang still provided an explosive performance, shaving .12 off of her prelims swim to take the meet title in a scorching 56.06.
Although splits are not yet available for her swim. Zhang’s 56.06 gold medal-worthy effort checks-in as the 2nd fastest performance of all-time among Chinese female swimmers. She now owns 4 out of the top 5 of such performances.
Top LCM 100 Butterfly Performances by Chinese Swimmers, All-Time:
- 55.62 – Zhang Yufei, 2020
- 56.06 – Zhang Yufei, 2020
- 56.07 – Liu Zige, 2009
- 56.18 – Zhang Yufei, 2020
- 56.29 – Zhang Yufei, 2020
For additional perspective, Zhang’s 56.06 here would have taken the silver behind winner Maggie MacNeil (CAN) at the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. Instead at that meet, Zhang produced a time of 57.93 to finish in 13th place.
During day 1 prelims here in Shijiazhuang City, China, Zhang rip a menacing double of 2:05.70 in the 200m fly and 24.31 in the 50m free to claim the top seed in each. She wound up settling for silver in the 50m in 24.65 but topped the 2fly podium in a stellar 2:05.49.
Splits for Zhang Yufei’s 56.06: 25.95-30.11.
During day3 heats, really remarkable swim for Li Bingjie:15.52.31 in the 1500 free, her new PB after a difficult period, like she said in the post-race interview.