'Sharkskin' era’s world record broken by Liu Xiang

World
Europe

On August 21, Liu Xiang set a new world record in women’s 50m backstroke with 26.98 seconds. She smashed China’s Zhao Jing’s record of 27.06 seconds, which was made in the last world championships during the high-technology swimwear era -- the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy.

Liu Xiang at China's Asian Games delegation costume delivery conference in Beijing, July 25, 2018 /VCG Photo

In that edition of championships, the large-scale using of “Sharkskin” made 13 world records then, and after, FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation Association) forbade the full-coverage and low-drag high-tech swimsuits to appear in international-level competitions.

The technique of “Sharkskin” started around 2000, and continued to evolve until 2009 into its fifth generation. The extreme-tight swimwear simulates the structure of shark’s skin and could be worn just seven or eight times, but it helps a lot to reduce the resistance of water.

At that time, the technique research of “Sharkskin” was confidential, but it caused inequity for teams as smaller countries couldn’t afford the manufacture costs of these suits.

Fu Yuanhui smiles after winning the silver medal of ‍the women's 50m backstroke final in the 2018 Asian Games, Jakarta, Indonesia, August 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

Liu Xiang is a swimmer whose talents have developed. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, this edition’s silver medal owner Fu Yuanhui won two titles of women’s 50m and 100m backstroke. While Liu’s 50m freestyle record then was not even within 27 seconds.

The two swimmers were both born in 1996, but Liu is eight months younger than Fu. During the women’s 50m backstroke in the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Fu won a gold medal and Liu ranked in the third place.

Fu also got a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and a silver medal in the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary for the same event. It seems no other Chinese woman could outshine Fu in this domain.

Liu Xiang starts the women's 50m backstroke final in the 2018 Asian Games, Jakarta, Indonesia, August 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

However, Liu did not give up and continued to challenge herself. After accepting the training of top Australian swimming coach Matt Brown, who lifted Ning Zetao’s 100m freestyle’s result in five weeks, Liu’s ability continues to grow. Today, all her effort clearly is paying back.

Last time the world record occurred in the Asian Games was in 2002 and was set by Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima in the men’s 200m breaststroke.