Shanghai’s Qin Haiyang made a triumphant return to the pool by clinching gold in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke at China’s National Spring Swimming Championships in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on Thursday.
Just over six months after contributing to China’s victory in the men’s 4×100-meter medley at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Qin dominated the qualifiers with a time of 58.61 seconds. He followed up with a winning time of 58.66 seconds in the final, edging out Sun Jiajun of Hubei, who took silver, and Jiangsu’s Dong Zhihao, who claimed bronze.
“I should have been faster in the final than in the morning qualifiers,” Qin admitted. “But I haven’t competed in major events for a while—it’s been about six months since the Paris Olympics—and I’m still finding my form.”
The championships saw several other standout performances. Shandong teenager Zhang Zhanshuo seized the men’s 200-meter butterfly title with a time of 1:56.60, narrowly defeating Zhejiang’s Xu Yizhou and Hubei’s Wang Baojun.
In the men’s 200-meter freestyle, Shandong’s Ji Xinjie touched the wall first in 1:46.76. He Yubo of Hebei earned the silver medal, while Hubei’s Xu Haibo took bronze.
Lin Tao from Guangdong captured gold in the men’s 50-meter backstroke, finishing in 25.22 seconds. He was just 0.01 seconds ahead of Jiang Chenglin of Shanxi and Wang Gukailai of Heilongjiang, who tied for second place.
On the women’s side, Wu Qingfeng of Zhejiang topped the podium in the 50-meter freestyle with a swift 24.44 seconds. Cheng Yujie from Jiangxi secured silver, and Shanxi’s Liu Shuhan took bronze.
Peng Xuwei from Hubei emerged victorious in the women’s 200-meter backstroke, finishing in 2:06.54. She was followed by Zhejiang’s Liu Yaxi and Guangdong’s Li Wanwei.
Nineteen-year-old Yu Yiting continued to showcase her talent by winning the women’s 400-meter individual medley in 2:10.73. Fellow Zhejiang swimmer Liu came in second, with Hubei’s Ke Wenxi rounding out the top three.
