On December 17, Beijing time, the first day of the World Short Course Swimming Championships was contested, and Hong Kong, China's He Shibei broke the world record in the women's 200m freestyle final, winning the championship and becoming the first swimming world champion in Hong Kong, China. At the award ceremony after the game, the national anthem resounded throughout the arena. However, Olympic champion Wang Shun was in average form, ranking fifth in the men's 200m individual medley final, and did not qualify for the medal.
This year's Short Pool Swimming World Championships was held in Dubai, and the Chinese swimming team sent Olympic champions such as Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun to compete and strive for good results. On the first match day, Zhang Yufei competed in the relay race and was in good shape, but in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay final, the Chinese team finished fifth and failed to reach the podium. The Chinese men's team also finished fifth in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final, and breaking the national record in the preliminaries was a highlight.
Compared with Zhang Yufei, Wang Shun is in general condition, in the men's 200 meters individual medley final, Wang Shun only ranked fifth, as an Olympic champion, but also the defending champion of this project, Wang Shun not only failed to achieve the feat of three consecutive championships, but also had no chance to get on the podium, and indeed broke out of the cold. Another title-winning favourite, Duncan Scott, finished just seventh, also as a surprise. The winner of this event belongs to Daiya Seto of Japan.
In addition, in the men's 100m breaststroke semifinals, Yan Zibei and Qin Haiyang ranked sixth and seventh respectively and advanced to the final together. In the women's 100m backstroke semifinals, Peng Xuwei and Wan Lotte performed averagely and did not qualify for the final. Tang Qianting, Yu Yiting and other young players also appeared on the first day, but failed to pass in their main event, Tang Qianting was found guilty, Yu Yiting ranked ninth in the women's 400m individual medley competition, and did not qualify for the final.
The biggest surprise of the first match day came from the women's 200m freestyle final, where Hong Kong's He Shibei led almost the whole way, and the second half of the race continued to expand the advantage, and finally won the championship in 1:50.31, breaking the world record of 1:50.43 set by Sweden's Sjöström in 2017. This is the first swimming world championship won by a Hong Kong athlete, and after the baptism of the Olympic Games, He Shibei is more and more confident.
The award ceremony after the game, "The March of the Volunteers" resounded throughout the arena, which also made us proud. It is believed that He Shibei will continue to work hard in the next competition and achieve better results.
The next second competition day will be the men's 200m freestyle, women's 100m freestyle, women's 200m butterfly, women's 800m freestyle and other events of the preliminary and final, China's Zhang Yufei continues to play, will launch an attack on the champion! Good luck to all Chinese players!