Wang Shun 1:55.55 200 IM, Xu Jiayu 52.47 100 Back On Day One Of Chinese Nationals

2023 CHINESE NATIONALS

  • May 1st – May 8th
  • LCM (50m)
  • World Championships Qualifier
  • Results via Asian Media

Day one of the 2023 Chinese Nationals wasted no time throwing down the heat as we saw a new Asian continental bite the dust.

18-year-old Pan Zhanle posted the fastest 100m free of his life, taking the gold in a time of 47.22. That established a new national record and Asian record for the swimmer who placed 4th in the event at the 2022 World Championships.

You can read more about Pan’s history-making swim and see race video here.

Another men’s event was set aflame, as Wang Shun scorched a time of 1:55.45 to take the 200m IM. Wang beat out teammates Qin Haiyang and Deng Ziqi who also landed on the podium. Qin touched in 1:57.79 while Deng bagged bronze in 2:00.94.

Wang’s season-best entering this competition rested at the 1:57.19 he produced at the Chinese Spring Nationals in March.

Tonight’s swim hacked over a second and a half off that result to render the reigning Olympic gold medalist the #1 swimmer in the world right now in this 2IM event. He joins Frenchman Leon Marchand as the only other man to have dipped under the 1:56 barrier thus far this season.

2022-2023 LCM Men 200 IM

LeonFRA
Marchand
07/27
1:54.82
2Wang
Shun
CHN1:55.5505/01
3Duncan
Scott
GBR1:55.9507/27
4Shaine
Casas
USA1:56.0604/15
5Tom
Dean
GBR1:56.0707/27
View Top 26»

21-year-old Li Bingjie topped the women’s 1500m free podium, logging a time of 15:51.21. She hit the only time of the field under 16:01 en route to checking in with her best result of the season.

At the aforementioned Chinese Spring Nationals, Li earned a time of 16:04.06 so tonight’s effort represents her first sub-16:00 outing of 2023. Her time here also lays waste to the relatively disappointing mark of 16:13.92 she put up at last year’s World Championships to place 9th and out of the final.

Li now inserts herself into the season’s world rankings in the 2nd slot, sitting only behind American icon Katie Ledecky.

2022-2023 LCM Women 1500 Free

Katie USA
Ledecky
07/25
15:26.27
2Simona
Quadarella
ITA15:43.3107/25
3Li
Binjie
CHN15:45.7107/25
4Anastassia
Kirpitchnikova
FRA15:48.5307/25
5Lani
Pallister
AUS15:49.1707/25
View Top 25»

Xu Jiayu dominated the men’s 100m back event this evening, getting to the wall 2 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.

The 27-year-old Olympic silver medalist in this event from 2016 cranked out a winning effort of 52.47, with the next-closest swimmer represented by Wang Gukailai who settled for silver in 54.48.

Xu’s time here outperformed the 52.51 he logged for 5th place at the 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the 53.49 put up in Budapest to settle for 10th place at last year’s World Championships.

Xu now ranks #1 in the world, overtaking Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov who previously wore the crown with his time of 52.54 from last month.

Additional Notes

  • Olympic champion Zhang Yufei notched a season-best time of 2:07.99 to take the women’s 200m fly. That now ranks her 10th in the world this season.
  • The women’s 50m breast saw Tang Qianting get it done for gold in 30.88.

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BuddyFromSA
1 year ago

1:55.45. Rip it up! Cool down. Everybody have fun tonight!

Hank
Reply to  BuddyFromSA
1 year ago

Everybody Wang Shun tonight!

Prettysup
Reply to  BuddyFromSA
1 year ago

Wang Shun rocks! Btw it should be 1:55.55 lol..

Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

Not a popular opinion, but I really think Xu Jiayu would have won gold in the Tokyo Olympics had the games not been delayed. His coach Xu Guoyi passed away in the summer of 2020, and you could see his whole squad was off the following year.

chip
Reply to  Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

He also had stomach ulcers the day of the semis. Chinese media reported he left the pool in a wheelchair. On the other hand, Xu has been in hot water because of personal reasons lately…

Reid
Reply to  chip
1 year ago

What for?

chip
Reply to  Reid
1 year ago

He cheated on his girlfriend with a reporter. The reporter posted about her relationship with Xu on Weibo (Chinese twitter) only for people to point out that he already had a girlfriend. Afterwards, there was a closed training camp and Xu didn’t attend leading to rumors that he was banned for his transgressions.

Reid
Reply to  chip
1 year ago

Yeesh. Thanks for elaborating!

agualyx
Reply to  Reid
1 year ago

In Chinese social media, the fans of swimming told him: “Please swim more in the rest of your life.” which was his ex-grilfriend said to him. 😂

Carl
1 year ago

How’s 47.2 not the title of this article

Jimmyswim
Reply to  Carl
1 year ago

It has its own article

Greenangel
1 year ago

I feel the 200 IM will be homeric next summer. The Olympic champion Wang Shun vs the World champion Marchand, Casas, Seto, Foster, Kalisz, Dean. I wouldn’t be surprised if the podium was sub 1:55. More generally I think these World Championships are going to be amazing in terms of times. One year before Paris, swimmers will get stronger. The times achieved will go up one level. Popovici, McIntosh, Marchand, Paltrinieri, Wiffen, McKeown, Titmus, Ledecky, Milak, Ceccon, ZSC, Huske and so many others. I can’t wait to see these Championships.

Troyy
Reply to  Greenangel
1 year ago

The stage really does seem set for an all time great World Championships and USA and Australia haven’t even had trials yet.

bubo
1 year ago

i love it when the people do a good and fast swim

Tracy Kosinski
1 year ago

Every final at Worlds is going to be crazy amazing. Haven’t felt this excited about swimming in a long time. Thank you swimswam for all the great articles keeping us up to par.

Greenangel
Reply to  Tracy Kosinski
1 year ago

I agree with you. Every final, male or female, will be crazy. We are lucky to have such a talented young generation. But the older are still there. 😁🏊‍♀️

Andrew
1 year ago

Wang Shun’s closing speed (freestyle leg) is mind bogglingly consistently fast

Last edited 1 year ago by Andrew
Bud
1 year ago

Marchand watch your tail

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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