Zhang Zhanshuo dominates China's National Spring Swimming Championships

China's National Spring Swimming Championships wrapped up on Sunday night in Qingdao, with 18-year-old rising star Zhang Zhanshuo continuing his stellar performance on the final day by securing his fourth gold medal of the event.

In the men's 400-meter individual medley final, Zhang maintained a lead from the start and ultimately won the race with a time of 4 minutes and 13.40 seconds. Prior to this, the Shandong native had already claimed gold in the 1500-meter freestyle, the 200-meter butterfly, and the 400-meter individual medley.

In the women's 100-meter butterfly final, top qualifier Wang Yichun finished first with a time of 57.38 seconds. Yu Yiting and Gong Zhenqi followed closely behind, securing second and third place respectively. Olympic champion Zhang Yufei, who had just returned to training after a six-month break, was unable to find her best form, finishing in fifth place with a time of 58.21 seconds.

Despite her less-than-ideal performance, Zhang expressed a desire to view this competition as a "baseline test," stating, "I won't perform worse than this in my future races."

In the women's 100-meter breaststroke final, the seasoned 29-year-old Ye Shiwen touched the wall first with a time of 1 minute and 7.81 seconds, claiming her first title in this event. Notably, in the earlier women's 100-meter backstroke competition, Ye had set personal bests twice in one day, highlighting her excellent competitive form.