Olympic champion Wang Shun grabs two golds in Chinese national spring swimming championships

QINGDAO, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Wang Shun showed his dominance by winning his favorite 200 meters individual medley and 100m backstroke on the first day of the Chinese national spring swimming championships here on Sunday.

Wang, the 200m individual medley gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, led the field from start to finish, clocking one minute 57.19 seconds, while Qin Haiyang finished second in 1:57.68.

"It was my first big competition since last year's world championships in Budapest. I hope to find back my race pace in the meet," said Wang, who also added the men's 100m backstroke title in a time of 54.09.

Li Bingjie, a member of the winning women's 4x200m freestyle relay team and 400m freestyle bronze medalist in the Tokyo Olympic Games, claimed victory in women's 1,500m freestyle in 16:04.06.

"There are many meets I plan to compete at this year, so I hope to come to my best form gradually. I was not satisfied with my 1,500m results, but I believe I will reach my best form later in the worlds in July. I will have a test in 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle here in Qingdao," Li said.

17-year-old Wang Haoyu shocked his rivals as he snatched the champion in men's 100m freestyle in 47.89.

"I did not expect to swim under 48 seconds and did not train for this time. I sliced off one second of my personal best," Wang said.

In other events, Yu Liyan won the women's 200m butterfly in 2:08.59, Yang Chang led the women's 50m breaststroke with 30.90 and team Hebei clinched victory in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay.

About 672 swimmers from 26 teams compete in the six-day national meet, which was originally the second-tier national meet that served as the qualification for the Chinese national championships to be held in May. However, it turned has become one of the two-leg qualifiers for the worlds and Asian Games.