China’s National Spring Swimming Championships concluded on Sunday night in Qingdao, where 18-year-old sensation Zhang Zhanshuo continued his remarkable performance by clinching his fourth gold medal on the final day.
In the men’s 400-meter individual medley final, Zhang led from the outset and secured victory with an impressive time of 4 minutes and 13.40 seconds. Hailing from Shandong, Zhang had already made waves earlier in the competition by grabbing gold in the 1500-meter freestyle, the 200-meter butterfly, and the 800-meter freestyle.
In the women’s 100-meter butterfly final, top qualifier Wang Yichun touched the wall first with a time of 57.38 seconds. Yu Yiting and Gong Zhenqi followed closely, taking second and third place respectively. Olympic champion Zhang Yufei, returning to the pool after a six-month hiatus, finished fifth with a time of 58.21 seconds.
Despite not achieving her best result, Zhang Yufei remained optimistic. “I want to view this competition as a baseline test,” she said. “I won’t perform worse than this in my future races.”
The women’s 100-meter breaststroke final saw veteran swimmer Ye Shiwen, 29, claim her first title in this event with a time of 1 minute and 7.81 seconds. Earlier in the day, Ye demonstrated her excellent form by setting personal bests twice in the women’s 100-meter backstroke.
The championships highlighted both emerging talents and seasoned athletes in Chinese swimming, promising exciting prospects for future international competitions.
