Ye Shiwen accepts post-match interview after winning the women's 200m individual medley in the Chinese national swimming championships, Qingdao, Shandong Province, October 2, 2020. /CFP
2012 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen finished first in the final of the women's 200m individual medley in two minutes and 11.37 seconds at the Chinese national swimming championships on Friday.
Representing her hometown Zhejiang, Ye established an advantage from the very beginning in the final and edged runner-up Yu Yiting, also from Zhejiang, by about one second. Chen Xinyi from Shanghai took third place.
Ye is also the Asian record holder of the women's 200m individual medley with 2:07.57.
Ranking fourth in the preliminary heats of the women's 400m individual medley, Ye didn't advance to that final, as she failed to make the top eight in a round of physical tests, a new requirement for this year's championships.
Zhejiang's Wang Shun clinched gold in the men's 200m individual medley with 1:56.83, leading silver medalist Deng Ziqi from Guangdong by around five seconds. Liu Zongyu from Shandong took bronze.
Wang Shun (C) wins the gold of men's 200m individual medley in the Chinese national swimming championships, Qingdao, Shandong Province, October 2, 2020. /CFP
A joint team from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei and Shandong broke the world record of the mixed 4x100m medley relay in the preliminary heats, and also won the title in the final with 3:39.40.
Hebei's Zhang Yifan came in first in the women's 200m butterfly, and Zhang Ziyang from Hubei scooped gold in the men's 1,500m freestyle.
Attracting around 300 swimmers, the 2020 championships are being held from September 26 to October 2 in Qingdao.
The swimmers' performances at the championships will act as important markers for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games qualification.