Sometimes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. This was the case on day 4 of the 2011 Chinese Inter-City Championships, held in Nanchang, China, which is designated as a junior meet to identify future Olympians (across all sports).
As Ye Shiwen cruised to her third gold medal of the meet in the 200 IM, many Chinese fans were disappointed that we didn’t get to see her in the 200 free. She swam a 2:08 in the prelims to conserve her energy for the 200 IM, which is her best event, but that meant that we missed out on a great battle between her and Shao Yiwen in the former of those races.
Many have wondered, since her textile best 200 IM in Shanghai, what her potential is in this 200 free. With how fast she closed that IM, she could be a great 200 freestyler, but we haven’t been able to really see that out of her. But the disappointment of the crowd had to be slightly tempered by the fact that Ye put up an very fast 2:10.01. That’s a second slower than she was at Worlds, but still ranks amongst the top-10 performances of the year.
In the 200 free, absent Ye, it was Shao who won in 1:58.51 (a few tenths slower than her time from Nationals). Liu Yiru took 2nd in 1:59.33. Liu, who turned 16 in September, is a new contender for the Chinese 800 free relay with that, her career-best time.
In the only boys individual race of the day, Zhang Qibing won the 200 fly in 1:58.90. That’s a nice step-up, and a huge career-best time, for a guy who’s generally excelled in the sprint butterflies (he went a 52.6 in the 100 at Fall Nationals).
Day 4 Medalists
Girls 200 free
Shao Yiwen 1’58″51
Liu Yiru 1’59″33
Zhou Lili 2’00″30
Boys 200 fly
Zhang Qibing 1’58″90
Wang Pudong 1’59″44
Liu Yu 2’01″95
Girls 200 IM
Ye Shiwen 2’10″01
Xue Jiao 2’13″92
Zhou Min 2’14″56
Boys 4×200 FR
Shanghai Minhang 7’25″95
Nanjing 7’27″96
Zhengzhou 7’29″02