Xu Jiayu Hits New Chinese Record Of 24.38 For 50 Back Gold

19TH ASIAN GAMES

• Sunday, September 24th – Friday, September 29th (swimming)
• Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena, Hangzhou, China
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Results

Day two of the 2023 Asian Games is already carrying the fast and furious momentum from yesterday, as China’s Xu Jiayu fired off a new national record.

Racing in the very first event of the men’s 50m backstroke, Olympic medalist Xu produced a new lifetime best of 24.38 to take the gold.

Teammate Wang Gukailai was next to the wall in 24.88 as Japan’s Ryosuke Irie rounded out the top 3 in 25.15.

As for 28-year-old Xu, his time overtook his own previous national record of 24.41, a performance he logged in the semi-finals at this year’s World Championships. There in Fukuoka, he ultimately placed 3rd in a time of 24.50.

With his new PB of 24.38, Xu moves up 3 spots on the all-time rankings list to now become the 18th-swiftest man in history.

Xu also blew away the 24.75 it took him to earn the gold at the last edition of these Games in Jakarta.

As fast as Xu’s performance was this evening, however, Japan’s Junya Koga still holds the Asian Record with the 24.24 notched in 2009. Koga also still owns the Asian Games Record with his time of 24.28 from the 2014 edition of the competition.

Xu’s performance is continuing the trend of older swimmers putting up some of their best times ever, as 29-year-old Wang Shun logged a new PB and Asian Record of 1:54.62 yesterday to win the 200m IM. 32-year-old Satomi Suzuki of Japan also hit a new career-best mark of 30.14 for silver.