On December 18, Beijing time, the FINA Short Pool Swimming World Championships ended the second day of competition, and the Chinese athletes sent good news. Olympic champion Zhang Yufei won the women's 200m butterfly championship, which was her first gold medal in the world championships in short pool swimming, and at the award ceremony after the race, Zhang Yufei had tears in her eyes. In addition, FINA announced the results of the 2021 awards, and Shi Tingmao and Xie Sibei won the title of FINA's Annual Best Diver.
On the second matchday, the Chinese team finally won the first gold medal. In the women's 200m butterfly final, Zhang Yufei led the way, winning the championship with an excellent time of 2:03.01, which was her first gold medal at the Short Pool Swimming World Championships, which was a gap. From winning the Olympic Games to winning the World Championships in short pool swimming, Zhang Yufei has maintained a stable competitive state and is of course the leader of the Chinese swimming team.
At the award ceremony after the game, Zhang Yufei's eyes were filled with tears, which was touching. In the past few years, Zhang Yufei has been training hard, even if he is in a low valley, he always believes in himself, and now, Zhang Yufei has finally ushered in a harvest. Obviously, Zhang Yufei will continue to move forward in the Paris Olympic cycle, striving to establish an advantage in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly, and in addition, he will contribute in the relay competition, and the excitement will continue.
There were also a number of Chinese athletes who appeared on the second match day, the women's 800m freestyle preliminaries, and the youngster Li Bingjie played well, ranking first in the preliminaries with a more obvious advantage. In the final, as long as Li Bingjie plays normally, she has the hope of winning this gold medal. In addition, Qin Haiyang and Yan Zibei won the sixth and seventh places in the men's 100m breaststroke. After the Olympic Games, Yan Zibei, Wang Shun and other male players competed in a relatively general state.
FINA also announced the results of the 2021 awards on this competition day, and Chinese diving stars Shi Tingmao and Xie Sibei won the title of FINA's Annual Best Diver, both of whom are Olympic champions and showed a stable competitive state in 2021, which can be said to be well deserved.
The much-talked-about male swimmer of the year belongs to Drexel, while the women's swimmer of the year belongs to Emma McGuione. Chinese swimmers do not compete much in 2021, except for the Olympic Games, missing most of the competitions, like Zhang Yufei, although she won two gold medals at the Olympic Games, she still failed to compete for Emma McGuione, I hope she continues to work hard, and there are many opportunities in the future!