Pan Zhanle Claims 200 Freestyle Title at Chinese Nationals; Xu Jiayu Posts Quick 100 Backstroke
Coming off a victory in the 400-meter freestyle earlier in the meet, Pan Zhanle made it a pair of wins at the Chinese National Championships, as he prevailed in the 200 freestyle on Monday. The reigning Olympic champion in the 100 freestyle, Pan stopped the clock in 1:45.45, nearly a second quicker than the runnerup mark of Zhang Zhanshuo (1:46.39).
Over the past few years, Pan has established some of the finest range in the sport, excelling from the 50 freestyle through the 800 freestyle. Still, his prime event – the 100 free – remains on this week’s schedule at Nationals, and it will be interesting to see what kind of marker Pan puts down on the road to the World Championships in Singapore.
While Pan earned a win in the 200 freestyle, veteran Xu Jiayu produced the latest in a long line of quality efforts from the two-time world champion in the 100 backstroke. Xu touched the wall in 52.49, which was more than a second and a half clear of the field. Xu was the silver medalist in the 100 back at last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, and he also earned silver in the event at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Off the back of her Asian record in the 400 freestyle, where she became the sixth female to break the four-minute barrier, Li Bingjie topped the field in the 1500 freestyle. Li checked in with a time of 15:43.94, good for a personal best and making her the 11th-fastest performer in history.
The women’s 100 breaststroke saw Tang Qianting, the Olympic silver medalist, take top honors in 1:05.57 while Wan Letian won the women’s 100 backstroke in 59.21.
In semifinal action, top seeds were earned by Qin Haiyang (26.54) in the men’s 50 breaststroke, Liu Yaxin (1:57.04) in the women’s 200 freestyle and Xu Fang (1:56.27) in the men’s 200 butterfly.