Xu Jiayu and Yu Yiting Rip Asian Records at Chinese National Champs
Breaking the 24-second barrier is a landmark achievement in the 50-meter backstroke, territory visited by just a handful of athletes through the years. On Wednesday night at the Chinese National Championships in Shenzhen, a fourth member of the exclusive club gained entrance.
One day after prevailing the 100 backstroke, veteran Xu Jiayu comfortably claimed victory in the 50 backstroke, his mark of 23.92 establishing an Asian record. Xu’s time bettered the previous Asian standard, the 24.24 set by Japan’s Junya Koga during the super-suit days of 2009. It also bettered Xu’s personal best by a wide margin, as his prior top time was a 24.36 from late last year.
By dipping under the 24-second barrier, Xu joined a club that includes world-record holder Kliment Kolesnikov (23.55) and the American tandem of Hunter Armstrong (23.71) and Justin Ress (23.92). The 30-year-old continues to flourish well into his career, which features five Olympic medals and seven medals from the World Championships. In 2017 and 2019, Xu was the world champion in the 100 backstroke.
While Xu was busy setting a continental record in the 50 backstroke, Yu Yiting ventured under the 2:07 barrier in the women’s 200 individual medley to set her own Asian standard. Yu went through her four laps in 2:06.82, which sliced a chunk of time from the previous record of 2:07.41, set last year by teen sensation Yu Zidi. Both women were in the field on Wednesday, but was not close, as Yu Yiting stormed to an easy win, with Yu Zidi in second by more than two seconds in 2:09.33.
With her new best time, Yu Yiting is the seventh woman to go under 2:07 and now slots sixth all-time, just ahead of Britain’s Siobhan O’Connor (2:06.88).
The men’s 100 breaststroke saw Dong Zhihao take down Qin Haiyang with an impressive outing of 58.57, which was nearly a second clear of Qin’s 59.39. Dong’s time was a half-second improvement on his previous best of 59.06 and moves him to the 11th-fastest performer in history. The performance also bodes well for the 200 breaststroke later in the meet, as that event is Dong’s better discipline.
There was a tight finish in the women’s 200 freestyle, where Li Jiaping emerged with the win in 1:56.29, a tenth quicker than the 1:56.39 of Liu Yaxin. Also going sub-1:57 were Fan Yaqi (1:56.57), Yang Peiqi (1:56.89) and Li Bingjie (1:56.91).
In other action, Wan Letian was the winner of the women’s 50 backstroke in 27.68 while Wang Changhao topped the field in the men’s 50 freestyle with a mark of 22.06.
MORE TO COME…
