2016 CHINESE OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
- April 3rd-10th, 2016
- Foshan, Guangdong, China
- Foshan Century Lotus Swimming & Diving Hall
- Live video
- Full results
Finals
Chinese backstroke king Xu Jiayu broke his first National Record since 2014 on Friday at the 2016 Chinese Olympic Trials.
He swam a 1:54.79 in the men’s 200 backstroke final to win by more than a second-and-a-half and break his own Chinese Record of 1:55.11 swum at this same meet in 2014. Xu is the holder of all three Chinese backstroke records in long course, and all but the 50 meter record in short course, but hadn’t been a best time in any of those races since 2014.
Xu beat-out His Zhejiang teammates for 2nd and 3rd, including runner-up and fellow Olympic qualifier Li Guangyuan (1:56.41).
That was one of four finals on the 6th of 8 days from Foshan. In the other men’s final, the 200 IM, Wang Shun improved from a lackluster semi-final (that had nobody go under the FINA A standard0 to swim 1:57.93. Wang was the bronze medalist in this event at last year’s World Championships, and has virtually no domestic competition in his best event, so being more than a second slower from his time at Worlds last year is less concerning that it is for swimmers in other races who have faltered this week.
The same goes for the final of the women’s 200 breaststroke, where Shi Jing Lin won in 2:22.98 – six seconds faster than her next closest competitor He Yun.
Shi now sits 6th in the current season World Rankings in that event.
2015-2016 LCM Women 200 BREAST
KANETO
2.19.65
| 2 | Yulia EFIMOVA | RUS | 2.21.41 | 03/04 |
| 3 | Taylor McKEOWN | AUS | 2.21.45 | 04/12 |
| 4 | Rikke PEDERSEN | DEN | 2.21.69 | 05/20 |
| 5 | Jinglin SHI | CHN | 2.22.28 | 08/11 |
In the women’s 100 free final, four swimmers were under 55 seconds, but none were able to get under the next, with the victory going to Zhumeng Hui in 54.19.
The other three swimmers at the top of the rankings were 54.7s and 54.8s.
Semi-Finals and Relays
- In the men’s 50 free semi-finals, Ning Zetao, who scratched the final of the 100 free on Thursday, was again absent from the field. The Chinese still got very good results, including a 22.19 from Yu He Xin and a 22.36 from Shi Yang, but where there’s some confidence that Ning will be gifted a spot in the 100 free at the Olympics based on his semi-finals performance, without having swum in any rounds of the 50 free, more uncertainty swirls here.
- In the women’s 200 back semi-finals, both heat winners came from lane 1, with Cheng Haihua swimming a 2:11.15 and Wu Yixin swimming a 2:12.16. While those two should both be faster in finals, the big story here is another disappointing swim from Ye Shiwen, who finished just 10th in the semi-finals and whose meet is now over. After placing 7th in her best event, the 400 IM, Ye bounced back to win the 200 IM (though she wasn’t close to her best time).
- In the men’s 100 fly semi-finals, Li Zhuhao swam a 51.70 that’s less than half-a-second from the Chinese National Record and ranks him in the top 10 of the world. He was over a second clear of the second-fastest qualifier Zhang Qibin in 52.87.
It’s reported that Ning Zetao has been battling flu-like symptoms: fever (102) and vomiting. He has apologized to his fans and says his fever is gone but is being extremely careful with medicines given to him to treat his IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), which was the cause of his current symptoms esp during rigorous training and racing. He has scratched 50, but is still at Foshan resting comfortably.
And what happened to Zetao? Zetao Lizhou..