At the Swimming World Championships in Budapest, China’s Tang Qianting and Qin Haiyang made history by clinching gold medals in the women’s and men’s 100m breaststroke events.
Tang Qianting dazzled the crowd as she powered through the women’s 100m breaststroke final, touching the wall at 1 minute 2.38 seconds. After an impressive semifinal where she swam just 0.01 second shy of the world record, Tang led the final from start to finish. She was ahead of the world record pace by 0.52 seconds after the first 50 meters. American swimmer Lilly King took silver, while Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova secured bronze.
On the men’s side, Qin Haiyang delivered a thrilling performance in the 100m breaststroke. Trailing behind Russia’s Kirill Prigoda and world record holder Ilya Shymanovich at the halfway mark, Qin surged in the final meters to win gold with a new Asian record of 55.47 seconds. He edged out Prigoda by a mere 0.02 seconds and Shymanovich by 0.13 seconds.
The championships also saw remarkable performances from other athletes. Canada’s 18-year-old sensation Summer McIntosh set a new world record in the women’s 200m butterfly, clocking in at 1 minute 59.32 seconds. She became only the second woman ever to break the two-minute barrier in this event, surpassing the previous record held for a decade by Spain’s Mireia Belmonte. American Regan Smith claimed silver, setting a new American record with a time of 2 minutes 1 second.
American swimmer Gretchen Walsh had a stellar day, first winning gold in the women’s 100m freestyle with a time of 50.31 seconds, breaking her own championship record and becoming the first American to win this event since 1999. She then set a new world record in the 100m individual medley semifinal at 55.71 seconds.
The United States continued their dominance as Team USA won gold in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay. Their time of 7 minutes 30.13 seconds broke Australia’s world record set two years ago in Melbourne.
Reference(s):
Tang, Qin win breaststroke golds at Swimming World Championships
cgtn.com
