Wang Jianjiahe Drops 8:20.38 to Win 800 Free Final at Chinese Olympic Trials

CHINESE OLYMPIC TRIALS #1

On day 7 of the Chinese Olympic Trials, National Record-holder Wang Jianjiahe won the women’s 800 free final with nearly a 5 second lead over the field. She touched the wall with a time of 8:20.38, well under the FINA ‘A” cut and within 7.02 seconds of her National Record. Jianjiahe won bronze in the 1500 free and placed 6th in the 800 free at the 2019 World Championships. Li Bingjie took 2nd place (8:25.31), also cracking the FINA ‘A’ cut.

This race mirrored the women’s 1500 free final where Jianjiahe and Bingjie also finished 1-2. Today’s race brings Jianjiahe to two Olympic roster qualifications (1500 free and 800 free) and Bingjie to four (400 free, 200 free, 1500 free.) Both of their 1500 free times fall within the top 11 times in the world this season, though this was a new season-best time for Jianjiahe which maintains her rank as the 2nd fastest woman in the event this season:

2020-2021 LCM Women 800 Free

KatieUSA
Ledecky
07/31
8:12.57
2Ariarne
Titmus
AUS8:13.8307/31
3Katie
Grimes
USA8:17.0507/29
4Simona
Quadarella
ITA8:17.3207/29
5Sarah
Koehler
GER8:17.3307/29
6Anastasia
KIRPICHNIKOVA
RUS8:18.7707/29
7Kiah
Melverton
AUS8:19.0506/17
8Wang
Jianjiahe
CHN8:19.1007/26
9Haley
Anderson
USA8:20.5106/19
10Isabel
Gose
GER8:21.7907/29
11Merve
Tuncel
TUR8:21.9107/02
View Top 26»

Liu Yaxin dominated the women’s 200 back final, touching the wall in 1st place with a time of 2:08.26, more than 2 seconds under the FINA ‘A’ cut. Peng Xuwei nabbed 2nd place (2:09.75), also under the ‘A’ cut.

In the men’s 100 fly final, Sun Jiajun destroyed his semifinals time by half a second to win the race, but he finished .01 off the FINA ‘A’ cut. Chinese National Record-holder Li Zhuhao finished in 8th place with a time of 55.55.

The same dream team who broke the United States’ 4×100 mixed medley World Record in October 2020 contested the event today. Xu Jiayu lead-off the relay in 53.39 and handed it off to Yan Zibei (58.99). Zhang Yufei took the butterfly leg (57.21) and Yang Junxuan anchored the relay (54.51). They finished with a time of 3:44.10 compared to their World Record time of 3:38.56.

Yufei raced the 50 free semifinal right before the relay, topping the heat with a time of 24.46. This was right on the lifetime best she posted yesterday in prelims, 24.41, which is the 2nd fastest 50 meter free ever swam by a Chinese woman. It was a tight race with .13 separating Yufei, 2nd place finisher Wu Qingfeng and National Record-holder Liu Xiang who took 3rd.

As a reminder, this is the first of two Olympic qualifying meets for China, with the second Trials meet scheduled for May 31st – June 1st. While some events have less than two swimmers qualified so far, those unclaimed Olympic roster spots can be earned later this month. You can read our most recent Chinese Olympic roster update here.

Top 3 Finishers in Each Event:

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Final

  • FINA ‘A’ cut: 51.96
  • Chinese National Record: 50.96 – Li Zhuhao (2017)
  1. Sun Jiajun – 51.97
  2. Hong Jinquan – 52.37
  3. Chen Juner – 52.87

Women’s 200 Backstroke – Final

  • FINA ‘A’ cut: 2:10.39
  • Chinese National Record: 2:06.46 –Zhao Jing (2010)
  1. Liu Yaxin – 2:08.26
  2. Peng Xuwei – 2:09.75
  3. Wang Jiayin – 2:10.87

Women’s 800 Freestyle – Final

  • FINA ‘A’ cut: 8:33.36
  • Chinese National Record: 8:14.64 – Wang Jianjiahe (2019)
  1. Wang Jianjiahe – 8:20.38
  2. Li Bingjie – 8:25.31
  3. Hou Yawen – 8:20.82

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinal

  • FINA ‘A’ cut: 22.01
  • Chinese National Record: 21.79 – Yu Hexin (2020)
  1. Yu Hexin – 22.21
  2. Wang Changhao – 22.55
  3. Zhang Zhoujian – 22.64

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Semifinal

  • FINA ‘A’ cut: 24.77
  • Chinese National Record: 24.03 – Liu Xiang (2020)
  1. Zhang Yufei – 24.46
  2. Wu Qingfeng – 24.55
  3. Liu Xiang – 24.59

Mixed Medley Relay

  • World Record: 3:38.56 – Jiayu/Zibei/Yufei/Junxuan (2020)
  1. Xu Jiayu (53.39)/Yan Zibei (58.99)/Zhang Yufei (57.21)/Yang Junxuan (54.51) – 3:44.10

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Yozhik
3 years ago

Apart from Katie Ledecky Li Bingjie is the only active swimmer male or female who made “A” cut and will be competing from 200 through 1500 at Olympic Games. That is a huge achievement that most likely will go unnoticed since the chances are that there would be no Olympic medals at all.

Gheko
Reply to  Yozhik
3 years ago

She could challenge for medals, but maybe taking on too many events, depends if she drops the 200?

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  Gheko
3 years ago

Wang Jianjiahe has a far better chance to medal in the women’s 800 meter freestyle and the women’s 1500 meter freestyle than Li Bingjie.

Li Bingjie does not have a shot in hell to medal in women’s 200 meter freestyle even without Sarah Sjostrom in the race.

Smith-King-Dahlia-Manuel
Reply to  Gheko
3 years ago

I doubt Li Bingjie even finals in the women’s 200 meter freestyle:

Bonnet
Haughey
Junxuan
Ledecky
McKeon
Oleksiak
Pellegrini
Ruck
TItmus

Gheko
3 years ago

Titmus won 800m free bronze in 2019, the Chinese girl was 6th in that race.

About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

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