Li Bingjie equals Asian record in women's 400m free at National Championships

HANGZHOU, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Li Bingjie continued her good form at the Chinese National Swimming Championships as she led throughout to win the women's 400m freestyle in four minutes 1.08 seconds by leveling the Asian record here on Wednesday.

It was the 21-year-old's third title in Hangzhou as she also dominated in the 200m and 1,500m freestyle.

"I must make some breakthroughs in my skills. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games is not far away, and I hope I can compete with the world's top swimmers," said Li, who took a bronze in the 400m free at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Ma Yonghui came second in 4:05.92, while Yang Peiqi was third in 4:05.98.

Tokyo Olympic champion Wang Shun also collected his third title on Wednesday after winning the men's 400m individual medley with 4:13.96. Tao Guannan and Zhang Zhanshuo came second and third respectively.

Wang also grabbed gold medals in the 200m medley and the 4x200m freestyle relay in the previous two days.

Cheng Yujie stormed to the women's 100m freestyle victory in 53.26 seconds. Yang Junxuan came second in 53.87, while Tokyo Olympic 200m butterfly champion Zhang Yufei was third in 53.95.

"I plan to take part in seven events at the Asian Games: 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 100m freestyle, as well as three relays," said the 25-year-old Zhang, who also took silvers in 100m butterfly and 4x100m mixed medley relay at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Also on Wednesday, Peng Xuwei snatched the women's 200m backstroke gold in a personal best 2:07.11, while Fei Liwei improved his personal best in the men's 1,500m freestyle by about 15 seconds to 14:46.59. Team Zhejiang won the men's 4x100m medley relay in 3:35.07.

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