Sun Yang Settles For 400 Free Silver But Puts Up 3:47.94 At Chinese Spring Nationals

2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SPRING SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, March 18th – Sunday, March 23rd
• Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
• LCM (50m)
• Day 1 Recap
• Results via Asian media

We saw day two of the 2025 Chinese National Spring Swimming Championships unfold today with once-banned Olympic champion Sun Yang in the water for his second swim since his 4-year suspension was lifted in May of last year.

33-year-old Sun took on the men’s 400m freestyle, the event in which he won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games followed by silver 4 years later in Rio.

Sun stopped the clock at an impressive time of 3:47.94, although he had to settle for silver.

Getting to the wall first was Liu Peixin who registered a mark of 3:46.80 for the gold.  That was a new personal best for the 19-year-old, overwriting the 3:48.96 he put up at last year’s Nationals.

Xu Haibo rounded out the podium in 3:48.53 as the only other sub-3:50 swimmer of the bunch.

As for Sun, he previously raced at the China’s National Summer Swimming Championships last August where the ace put up a time of 3:49.58 in the men’s 400m freestyle.

Liu now enters the season’s world rankings in slot #4 while Sun enters in slot #6.

Post-race, Sun told the media, “Goal achieved. After coming down from the high altitude, I did a very hard workout without a taper.

“When you come down from the high altitude, your body is tired and you lack strength, but after that, I didn’t have enough time to adjust but I’m very happy that I was able to achieve this result, which was faster than in the morning (3:50.95).

目標達成です。
高地から降りた後、テーパーなしで非常に厳しい練習をしました。高地から降りると体が疲れて、力が不足しますが、その後十分に調整する時間もありませんでしたが、朝より速いこの成績を達成できたことにとても満足しています pic.twitter.com/tWUcn9ajol

— 競泳NEWS (@swimcoverage) March 19, 2025

The women took on the 800m freestyle this evening, with 17-year-old Yang Peiqi unleashing a huge new lifetime best of 8:19.45 en route to gold.

The teen finished over 6 seconds ahead of her competitors, with Liu Yaxin the next to touch in 8:25.99 followed by Zhang Ke who bagged bronze in 8:31.78.

Entering this competition, Yang’s PB rested at the 8:23.86 she produced 2 years ago as a 15-year-old. That means tonight’s performance represents her first-ever sub-8:20 outing as she now checks in as China’s 4th-swiftest woman in history.

Top 5 Chinese Women’s LCM 800 Free Performers All-Time

1. Li Bingjie – 8:13.31, 2023
2. Wang Jianjiahe – 8:14.64, 2019
3. Xin Xin – 8:19.43, 2013
4. Yang Peiqi – 8:19.45, 2025
5. Chen Qian – 8:20.36, 2009

Additional Winners

• With Olympic multi-medalist Xu Jiayu not among the field, 19-year-old Jiang Chenglin grabbed the men’s 100m backstroke gold. Jiang hit a mark of 54.67 eke out the victory ahead of Lin Tao who settled for silver a hair back in 54.72. Wanggu Kailai rounded out the podium in 54.76.
• Sun Jiajun got it done for gold in the men’s 50m breast, producing a ressult of 26.85. That held a healthy advantage over Zheng Yinghao who was next to the wall in 27.45 while 2024 200m breast world champion Dong Zhihao collected bronze in 27.53. Sun has been as fast as 26.61 in his career while tonight’s effort renders him #3 in the world on the season.
• Yu Yiting already earned two medals yesterday, reaping silver in both the 200m IM and 100m free, but today she tried the 50m fly on for size. Olympian Yu punched a result of 25.73, a time just .02 outside her lifetime best. Wu Qingfeng was also sub-26, putting up 25.97 for silver and Wang Yichan got on the board in 26.01 for bronze. Yu is the 3rd-best performer in the world this season.