QINGDAO, China, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Yufei, who broke the Asian record in the women's 100m butterfly in the preliminary heat on Tuesday, captured gold in the final at the Chinese national swimming championships here on Wednesday.
Representing Jiangsu, Zhang finished the first 50 meters in 25.82 seconds, leading the runner-up Li Shuang from Henan by nearly two seconds, and won the title in 56.29 seconds.
The 22-year-old swimmer shattered the Asian record in 55.62 seconds on Tuesday, 0.45 seconds faster than the former Asian record holder, Olympic champion Liu Zige, who held the record for 11 years.
Zhang also broke the national record in the women's 100m freestyle on Sunday.
World champion Xu Jiayu from Zhejiang clinched his second gold in the men's 100m backstroke in 52.60 seconds, after his 200m backstroke victory on Sunday.
Rookie Yang Junxuan also claimed her second gold in the women's 200m freestyle in one minute and 56.52 seconds, Hou Yujie from Henan ranked first in the men's 100m freestyle, and Hebei's Zhang Ke touched the finishing line first in the women's 800m freestyle.
Finishing first in the preliminary heat of the men's 100m freestyle, Yu Hexin from Guangdong didn't show up in the final as he failed to make the top eight in the physical tests, according to a new rule of the championships.
Attracting around 300 of China's top 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
