While most high-level international swimmers took a break from training following the World Championships in Singapore this past July, Team China had other plans. With the National Games approaching in November, many of the nation’s top stars headed to high-altitude training camps shortly after the meet concluded, with Chinese media outlets extensively reporting on the sessions.
Two-time Olympic medalist Yu Yiting officially confirmed the training camp in an interview published yesterday by China.org.cn.
Having competed at a tune-up meet, which SwimSwam has extensively covered, Yu said: “After coming down from high-altitude training, I didn’t adjust quickly enough, so I have some regrets about my result. But winning the gold in the 4×100 relay still makes me very happy.”
The National Games are scheduled for November, meaning that while many international stars took a break from competing in August with eyes on the World Cup circuit in October, the Chinese team will have had no respite.
Many of their top swimmers are targeting record-breaking performances, including reigning Olympic 100 free champion Pan Zhanle, as the National Games for Chinese athletes are considered even more important than the World Championships and rank just behind the Olympic Games and Asian Games in overall significance.
The National Games occur every four years, with this year marking the 15th edition. Running from November 9–21, it is a multi-event competition that closely mirrors the diversity of sports seen at the Olympics.
SwimSwam will, of course, publish previews and recaps as the meet approaches.
Hosting History
| Games | Host | Year | When | Teams | Athletes | Sports | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing | 1959 | September 13 – October 3 | 29 | 10,658 | 42 | 384 |
| 2 | Beijing | 1965 | September 11–28 | 29 | 5,014 | 23 | 300 |
| 3 | Beijing | 1975 | September 12–28 | 31 | 12,497 | 42 | 310 |
| 4 | Beijing | 1979 | September 15–30 | 31 | 15,189 | 36 | 469 |
| 5 | Shanghai | 1983 | September 18 – October 1 | 31 | 8,943 | 26 | 277 |
| 6 | Guangdong | 1987 | November 20 – December 5 | 37 | 7,228 | 44 | 343 |
| 7 | Beijing | 1993 | September 4–15 | 45 | 7,481 | 43 | 374 |
| 8 | Shanghai | 1997 | October 12–24 | 45 | 7,943 | 28 | 319 |
| 9 | Guangdong | 2001 | November 11–25 | 45 | 8,608 | 30 | 345 |
| 10 | Jiangsu | 2005 | October 12–23 | 42 | 9,986 | 32 | 483 |
| 11 | Shandong | 2009 | October 16–28 | 46 | 10,991 | 33 | 551 |
| 12 | Liaoning | 2013 | August 31 – September 12 | 39 | 9,770 | 31 | 350 |
| 13 | Tianjin | 2017 | August 27 – September 8 | 38 | 8,478 | 33 | 417 |
| 14 | Shaanxi | 2021 | September 15–27 | ~39 | ~12,000 | 36 | 412 |
| 15 | Guangdong Hong Kong Macau | 2025 | November 9–21 | 34 | – | 40 | – |
| 16 | Hunan | 2029 | – | – | – | – | – |
Why isn’t the U.S. as competitive? Because we take breaks while others keep training.
Ever wonder why Phelps was so dominant? He stacked day after day, month after month, year after year—no shortcuts.
And then he went off the rails and needed to take years off to mentally and emotionally get back to a place where he could return to the sport.
European athletes take breaks, Australians take breaks. Leon took time off after the Olympics then took more time off after the World Cup series, still smashed a WR this summer. Titmus took significant time off after the Tokyo Olympics, came back in 2023 and broke the world record in the 400, took time off again after worlds and came back and set the world record in the 200 at trials.
Yu Yiting’s been sanguine about her tapering as of the Worlds, racing events way more than her ZheJiang teammates.
National Games in China always ranks first…
2nd to the Olympics (excluding a few events)
Yu zidi new pbs coming
I hope there will be videos. Having seen her performance in Singapore, I think this kid is the real deal.
She’ll be of the very old age of 13 by the time this meet rolls around
Maybe this explains why so many Chinese athletes seemed uninterested in going all out at world champs in Singapore. National Games was always the priority.
I guarantee there were some comments saying this befire even worlds because it’s always the case with them
I mean in 2023 the Chinese team proved they could perform extremely well at two taper meets (world champs and Asian games). But I guess they didn’t have the same philosophy this year.
I think that year some of them just went with a really long taper lol. Didn’t Pan and Yufei swim University games after World Champs and before Asian games?
Yes
Qin as well.