QINGDAO, China, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Yan Zibei from Hubei won the men's 200m breaststroke in two minutes 12.14 seconds at the Chinese national swimming championships here on Thursday.
Yan established an advantage from the very beginning, leading runner-up Yu Zongda, also from Hubei, by nearly two seconds in the first 50 meters. Huang Chaosheng from Hunan finished third.
Ranking first in the event's preliminary heat in 2:10.25, Qin Haiyang from Shanghai didn't advance to the final as he failed to finish in the top eight in a series of physical tests - a new requirement for this year's championships.
Yu Jingyao from Beijing touched the finishing line first in the women's 100m breaststroke, with Zhang Xinyu from Henan and Tianjin's Zhang Muyan rounding out the top three.
The medals of the women's 200m backstroke were taken by three youngsters. Silver medalist Wang Jiayin from Shandong is just 13 years old. Hubei's Peng Xuwei, 17, bagged the gold in 2:09.02.
Tang Muhan from Guangdong topped the women's 400m freestyle in 4:07.04, and Ma Yonghui and Zhang Ke, both from Hebei, took second and third places respectively.
After having won the 200m and 400m freestyle, Ji Xinjie from Shandong scooped his third gold of the competition in the men's 800m freestyle, with teammate Hu Jia finishing second and Zhang Ziyang from Hubei taking the bronze medal.
Attracting around 300 swimmers, the 2020 championships are being held from September 26 to October 2 in Qingdao.
The swimmers' performances at the championships will act as an important reference for their qualification for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games. Enditem
