China's Qin renews 100m breaststroke Asian record at national championships

HANGZHOU, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Qin Haiyang achieved his goal at the Chinese National Swimming Championships as he refreshed the men's 100m breaststroke Asian record here on Tuesday.

Qin established a lead after the turn and punched the air after touching the wall in 57.93 seconds, beating the previous Asian record of 58.63 set by Yan Zibei. Yan came second in 58.79, while Sun Jiajun was third in 58.99.

"I learned a lot from my rivals," said the 23-year-old Qin. "I found my problems in the start and the turn, so I made some improvements."

Qin had broken the 50m breaststroke Asian record in the Spring national championships in March in Qingdao. He also expected to renew the 100m breast Asian record there but failed.

Olympic champion Ye Shiwen, 27, took second place in the women's 200m medley with a time of two minutes 10.70 seconds. Yu Yiting, 17, grabbed the gold with a personal best of 2:08.34.

"I hope I can make good results at the Asian Games," said Ye.

Li Bingjie claimed her second title in Hangzhou as she won the women's 200m freestyle in 1:55.62 following her 1,500m freestyle victory on Monday.

"The result is my normal level," said 21-year-old Li, the bronze medallist in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympic Games. "I focused on improving my long-distance events last month."

Wan Letian stormed to win the women's 50m backstroke in 27.51. Wang Xuer trailed in 27.62, while Chen Jie came third in 27.70. World champion Fu Yuanhui was fourth with 27.88.

Two-time world champion Xu Jiayu captured his second crown at the Nationals as he led all the way to win the men's 50m backstroke in 24.54. The 28-year-old grabbed the 100m back title on Monday.

In the men's 50m freestyle, Wang Changhao edged 100m freestyle champion Pan Zhanle to win the title in 22.01, 0.07 seconds faster than Pan, who also broke the 100m free Asian record on Monday.

In the last event on Tuesday, Team Zhejiang won the men's 200m freestyle relay in 7:07.29.

The national championships, running from May 1 to 6, also serves as a qualifier for the swimming worlds in Fukuoka, Japan in July and the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.