SWIMMING AT THE 2018 ASIAN GAMES
- August 19th-24th, 2018
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Schedule & Results
While most of the swims in prelims at the 2018 Asian Games have been lackluster, China’s Yan Zibei put a pulse of energy into Wednesday morning’s prelims with a new Asian Games record in the men’s 100 meter breaststroke. Zibei swam a 59.91 in the heats, which shaved .01 seconds off Dmitriy Balandin’s old record of 59.92 in the event, set in 2014.
Balanding was the 2nd qualifier on Wednesday, and while he wasn’t fast enough to defend his record, his 1:00.07 is a positive sign after he scratched the 200 breast earlier in the meet with an injury, and then told the AP that he was contemplating retirement.
Comparative Splits:
- Balandin’s Old Record (2014): 28.69/31.23 = 59.92
- Zibei’s New Record (2018): 28.01/31.90 = 59.91
Zibei’s personal best of 58.92, from the semi-finals at the 2017 Chinese Championships, is still a Chinese National Record in the event.
Balandin was actually very fast opening on Wednesday, whereas closing is usually his stronger suit. He started in 28.33, which was .36 seconds better than he was in his record-setting swim four years ago. But, he couldn’t hold on over the last 50.