Sun Yang advanced to the men's 400-meter freestyle final at China's 2024 Summer National Swimming Championships on Sunday.

Sun, who is representing Zhejiang Province, clocked a time of 3 minutes, 54.98 seconds and topped his heat to reach the final at the event running from August 25-28 in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.

After being suspended in 2020, the three-time Olympic champion became eligible to compete again as of May 28th, when Sun's studio posted on social media: "Exceed yourself. Be a fearless swimmer."

The Summer National Swimming Championships is a Class B national swimming event in China, second only to the National Swimming Championships in terms of level and prestige.

According to Wang Wei, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Swimming Sports Management Center, Zhejiang sent a youth-dominated 59-member squad to the competition, and excluded Paris 2024 Olympians Wang Shun and Pan Zhanle.