Chinese swimmers put on star-studded fight at National Championships

2024 Paris Olympics men's 100m freestyle champion Pan Zhanle of China went head to head with three time Olympic gold medalist Sun Yang in the 200m freestyle at the National Swimming Championships in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on Monday, with Pan coming out on top for Zhejiang.

The final was star-studded, with three Olympic gold medalists, Sun, Wang Shun, and Pan, plus world champions Zhang Zhanshuo and Ji Xinjie competing in the same race. 200m medley champion Wang took the lead after the start, but Ji moved into first place after 150 meters. Pan showed his speed to take the lead in the last 50 meters, touching the wall in 1:45.45, marking his third gold medal at this event. Zhang earned the silver while Ji grabbed the bronze. Veteran Sun, the oldest athlete in the tournament and overcoming injury, finished 8th. After the race, Pan and Sun congratulated each other.

"I only feel nervous without any other feeling," Pan said. "I focus on the details. I changed my strategy today as I used my power to rush mainly at the latter half. It's really great that I can swim with the two Olympic gold medalists, who are older than me. It's my honor to do so."

"I kept on going until the end and I felt really happy at this event," Sun said. "I met my expectations so many thanks to myself and others."

Li Bingjie from Hebei won the women's 1,500m freestyle. She touched the wall first in a time of 15:43.94 to break the tournament record.

Xu Jiayu won the men's 100m backstroke in 52.49 seconds while Wan Letian claimed the gold in the women's 100m backstroke in 59.21 seconds.

Tang Qianting secured the women's 100m breaststroke while Qin Haiyang broke the event record in the men's 50m breaststroke semifinals with a time of 26.54 seconds.