Xu Fang Clocks 50.73 100 Fly Chinese Record, #2 Asian Of All Time

2026 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, June 16 – Sunday, June 21, 2026
• Hangzhou, China
• LCM (50 meters)
• Live Results
• Daily Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

The 2026 Chinese National Swimming Championships saw day four unfold from Hangzhou, with the country’s top performers putting up their best in the hopes of making the Asian Games squad. The top two finishers in each event qualify, with the nation hoping to once again top the overall swimming medal table against rivals such as Japan and South Korea once that prestigious competition begins in September.

Making some noise in the men’s 100m butterfly final was Xu Fang, with the 23-year-old putting up a new lifetime best and Chinese national record en route to reaping the gold medal.

Xu stopped the clock at a super swift result of 50.73 to beat his competitors by a healthy margin, overtaking the former Chinese benchmark of 50.96 Li Zhuhao established at the 2017 World Championships. In doing so, Xu became just the 2nd-ever Chinese athlete to clear the 51-second barrier in the event.

The next-closest swimmer tonight was represented by Wang Xizhe, who touched in 51.41, followed by Wang Changhao, who earned the bronze in 51.54.

Xu opened in 24.06 and closed in 26.67 to establish the fastest time of his career, erasing his former best-ever performance of 51.38 from last November’s Chinese Games. That former outing rendered him China’s 5th-fastest man in history.

Comparing Xu’s and Li’s records, the former was more conservative on the way out, but that meant he had more in the tank to bring it home.

With tonight’s outing, Xu is now the #2 Asian man in history, sitting only behind Singapore’s Olympic champion Joseph Schooling.

Top 5 Asian Men’s LCM 100 Butterfly Performers All-Time

1. Joseph Schooling (SGP) – 50.39, 2016
2. Xu Fang (CHN) – 50.73, 2026
3. Naoki Mizunuma (JPN) – 50.81, 2022
4. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN) – 50.96, 2023 & Li Zhuhao (CHN) – 50.96, 2017
5. –

Additionally, Xu enters the season’s world rankings in the 6th slot as a lead-in to the aforementioned Asian Games.