Sun Yang was back in action on day 5 from Chinese Nationals in Rizhao, and he was back to spectacular speed. In the 1500 free, the event that has become his trademark after he broke the World Record of the great Grant Hackett in July (in 14:34), he put up a time that seems almost pedestrian for him.
Considering his limited training since Worlds, however, the fact that he still put up a 14:45.78 should terrify his competition. In fact, that’s the 5th-best performance (not performer) of the year, meaning that Sun Yang now has three out of the five best swims in this event in 2011. Given that distance swimmers typically have to put a big taper on to go that fast, it’s unbelievable that he’s been able to do it three times in 5 months (and going back to the Asian Games, four times in 12-months).
More interesting facts on that time: This is the 30th time in history that a 14:45 or better has been swum, and nobody else in history has broken that barrier more than twice in a calendar year.
In the men’s 200 fly, Chen Yin, who was 4th at Worlds, took a win in 1:56.84. That’s a very good time for a followup swim. Chen Weiwu took 2nd in that race in 1:57.38, which is a season-best for him and pushes him into the top-35 in the world. Just like we saw in the 100 fly, even without Wu Peng swimming at this meet, the Chinese swimmers are really stepping up their games in the butterfly events.
The young 16-year old Shao Yiwen, who has made her biggest mark on the distance freestyles, stated her case for a spot on the Chinese 800 free relay (that is the current World Record holder) with a winning time of 1:58.29. That ranks her 31st in the world, and makes her the 3rd-best Chinese swimmer in that event. There wasn’t much room in her schedule for that event at Chinese Trials, given her young age and with the non-Olympic 1500 free in play. Next season, however, a schedule of 200-400-800 for relay qualifying purposes seems much more doable.
Full Medal Results for Day 5
M 200 back
Cheng Feiyi 1’58″63
Diao Jigong 1’58″86
Wang Chengxiang 2’01″84
W 200 breast
Shi Jinglin 2’26″62
Li Qing 2’27″07
Li Xiang 2’27″45
M 200 fly
Chen Yin 1’56″84
Chen Weiwu 1’57″38
Shi Feng 1’57″48
W 200 free
Shao Yiwen 1’58″29
Pang Jiaying 1’58″92
Guo Junjun 1’59″41
M 4×100 MR
Guangdong 3’38″57
Shanghai 3’38″63
Beijing 3’42″96
M 1500 free
Sun Yang 14’45″78
Li Yunqi 15’09″40
Wang Kecheng 15’21″06
