Hangzhou, on the evening of September 24, 2023, the swimming event of the Hangzhou Asian Games began the fierce competition on the first final day. On this special day, the Chinese swimmers started their gold medal journey with amazing performances. That night, they won 6 individual gold medals and 1 gold medal in the relay event, achieving victory after victory. At the same time, veteran Wang Shun and young player Pan Zhanle also broke the Asian records in their respective events, allowing people to witness the new peak of swimming.
Zhang Yufei: The shine of the women's 200m butterfly
On the evening of the opening day, the first gold medal of the Chinese swimmers was won by Zhang Yufei, who performed well in the women's 200m butterfly, opening the door for the Chinese team to win gold at the Asian Games. This exhilarating victory instilled confidence in the Chinese team and heralded success for the rest of the game.
Wang Shun: Asian record holder in the men's 200m individual medley
Subsequently, the final of the men's 200m individual medley became a powerhouse competition. In the morning heats, Qin Haiyang and Wang Shun reached the finish line almost at the same time, with a narrow difference of 0.12 seconds to let the newly promoted "frog king" Qin Haiyang win the first place in the preliminary round, while Wang Shun was second.
However, Wang Shun, who finished second in the preliminary round, brought a huge surprise to everyone in the final. He showed peak form after entering the water, not only winning the championship with a time of 1:54.62, but also breaking his own Asian record. Not only was this significantly better than his performance at the Fukuoka World Championships (1:57.97), but it also engraved his name in the top three in the event's all-time results, behind American legends Rochette (1:54) and Phelps (1:54.16). Qin Haiyang finished second in 1:57.41, while Japan's Dai Seto also took bronze.
Wang Shun not only performed well in the pool, but also lit the Asian Games flame at the opening ceremony. He was very grateful: "Lighting the Asian Games flame on my doorstep is very meaningful, it is a recognition of me and a great encouragement to me. "His mentality and professionalism are evident, as moving from the opening ceremony to the game in a short period of time is no easy task for a veteran.
Pan Zhanle: The pursuit of world records
Alongside the outstanding performance of veteran Wang Shun, the young players of the Chinese swimming team also shined in this competition. In the men's 100m freestyle, two young players, Pan Zhanle and Wang Haoyu, represented the Chinese team. Pan advanced to third place in the heats, and in the final, he showed amazing form, breaking his Asian record set at the July World Championships in 46.97 seconds. Even more amazingly, Pan almost reached the world record held by Popovich (46.86 seconds) in the final sprint.
After the match, Pan Zhanle maintained a calm attitude, saying that he wanted to break the world record before because his goal was to go for the world record. However, he also modestly admitted, "As long as I haven't broken the world record, I don't deserve to be called 'Chinese flying fish.'" ”
Brilliant performance of other projects
In addition to the above two outstanding athletes, the Chinese swimming team also performed well in other events. In the women's 1500m freestyle event, Li Bingjie and Gao Weizhong won the championship and runner-up respectively, adding valuable gold and silver to the Chinese team. Tang Qianting once again showed her prowess in the women's 50m breaststroke, winning gold in 29.96 seconds while breaking the Asian record. Xu Jiayu set a new event record in the men's 100m backstroke final with a time of 52.23 seconds and stood on the top podium. In the end, the Chinese team, consisting of Yang Junxuan, Cheng Yujie, Wu Qingfeng and Zhang Yufei, broke the meeting record with a time of 3:33.96 and won the gold medal in the women's 4×100m freestyle relay.
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