A day after breaking the world junior record in the 200 butterfly, Li Zhuhao gave his own record in the 100 butterfly a scare at the Chinese summer nationals.
Li, 16 years old, put up a 51.45 in Huangshan, just a tick off his world junior record of 51.33 that he swam at the world championships. Li was eighth at worlds with a 51.66. Zhang Qibin was a distant second with a 53.24, while Chen Mengchang took third with a 53.29.
With worlds bronze medalist Shi Jinglin sitting out the women’s 200 breast at nationals, that paved the way for Zhang Xinyu to take the win in 2:27.04 as the only swimmer under 2:30. He Yun took second in 2:31.52 while Huang Kaiwen placed third with a 2:31.53.
Another top Chinese swimmer, Xu Jiayu, had no trouble winning the men’s 100 back with a 53.77. It’s well off the 52.89 he swam at the world championships to place fourth in the final, but enough to beat Wang Shun and his 54.83.
Other winners on the third day of the meet include Chen Shiyun with a 4:07.00 in the women’s 400 free, He Jianbin in the men’s 100 free with a 49.79, Chen Jie with a 1:00.14 in the women’s 100 back and Wang Lizhuo with a 27.59 in the men’s 50 breast.
Jamie Coates