Pan wins men's 100m freestyle for fifth gold medal at National Swimming Championships

China's National Swimming Championships continued in Shenzhen on Wednesday, with men's 100m freestyle world record holder Pan Zhanle continuing his dominance in the event to pick up his fifth gold medal of the week. The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics champion added the title to his golds in the 400m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 4×100m freestyle relay, and mixed 4×100m medley relay. The 20-year-old started in lane three and took the lead at the start of the final, before holding on to his advantage and touching the wall first in a time of 47.77 seconds.

In the men's 200m individual medley, Tokyo Olympics champion Wang Shun started in lane four. The Zhejiang native faced no serious challenges in qualifying or the semifinals, and maintained his momentum in the final. Wang increased the gap in the butterfly leg, and went on to win in 1 minute, 56.58 seconds. Xie Yichen of Zhejiang finished second, followed by Chen Nuo of Shanghai.

In the women's 200m butterfly final, Hebei's Yu Zidi lowered her personal best to 2 minutes, 8.52 seconds, in the semifinals, and then took the lead at the start of the final. Yu extended her edge to once again improve on her personal best with a gold-medal-winning time of 2 minutes, 6.83 seconds. Fellow Hebei swimmer Ma Yonghui placed second, while Chongqing's Gong Zhenqi ended up third.

In the women's 50m backstroke, Jiangxi's Wan Letian claimed gold in 27.56 seconds, followed by Zhejiang's Lu Xingchen and Qian Xin'an.

In the women's 4×200m freestyle relay, Zhejiang beat Hebei to claim gold. 15-year-old Yan Tiaoshan gave Zhejiang the lead after the opening freestyle leg. But Hebei came back and took the lead courtesy of Li Bingjie, who established a three-second cushion after 600 meters. Zhejiang's Liu Yaxin wiped out that deficit in the last 200 meters, however, and regained a one-second edge after the final turn. Liu then increased the gap as she anchored Zhejiang to gold in 7 minutes, 50.20 seconds.