2023 CHINESE NATIONALS
- May 1st – May 8th
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Qualifier
- Results via Asian Media
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
The Chinese men are making a case for creeping up on the medal prospects for this year’s World Championships and Asian Games in the 4x200m free relay.
Competing on day two of the 2023 Chinese Nationals, the foursome of Fei Liwei, Hong Jinquan, Pan Zhanle and Wang Shun combined to clock a collective effort of 7:07.29. That time blows away the 7:10.93 the nation put up at the 2022 World Championships where they placed 8th in the final.
Splits for last night’s 7:07.29 included Fei opening in 1:46.69 then handing it off to Hong who scored a split of 1:46.04. Pan, the newly-minted 100m free Asian record holder, continued the momentum with 1:46.86 before Wang anchored in 1:47.70.
Only two of the aforementioned swimmers were on that Budapest relay, represented by Hong and Pan. Below is a comparison of the splits.
| 2022 World Championships CHN Men’s 4×200 Free Relay | 2023 Chinese National Championships Men’s 4×200 Free Relay |
| Hong Jinquan – 1:47.74 | Fei Lewei – 1:46.69 |
| Zhang Ziyang – 1:47.95 | Hong Jinquan – 1:46.04 |
| Chen Juner – 1:49.53 | Pan Zhanle – 1:46.86 |
| Pan Zhanle – 1:45.71 | Wang Shun – 1:47.70 |
| 7:10.93 | 7:07.29 |
Considering 7:04.00 garnered Great Britain the bronze at last year’s World Championships, there is still quite a bit of work the Chinese need to do to make a podium placement possible. However, the fact they’re already back under 7:10 at a domestic meet is encouraging.
China will also have its hands full at the Asian Games, where Japan is the reigning champion in the men’s 4x200m free relay from 2018’s edition. Team member Kosuke Hagino has since retired, however, national record holder Katsuhiro Matsumoto recently put up his first sub-1:45 200m free in nearly 2 years.
More competition comes from South Korea as well. We reported how South Korea is specifically targeting this event at the Asian Games, with the probable relay foursome of Hwang Sunwoo, Lee Ho-jun, Kim Woomin and Yang Jaehoon having trekked to Australia for a training stint under Richard Scarce.
At the Korean Swimming Championships the following March, both Hwang and Lee clocked 1:45 200m freestyle times individually to further solidify their prospects.
We’ll see what the Chinese men produce individually in the 200m free as these Chinese Championships roll on.
1.44.65 for Pan Zhanle tonight. 1.45.71 for Wang Shun plus two more 1.46 from Hong Jinquan & Zhang Ziyang (Fei Liwei went 1.47 tonight). Maybe Wang Haoyu can make them gold medal contenders soon.
Sun Yang will be back in 2024. Whether he can still compete at a high level remains to be seen.
Interesting: I had written a similar message and, after “awaiting approval” , showed me: spam.
Ji Xinjie has gone 1:45 off a flat start before, but he might be past his prime. Xu Jiayu has thrown down some pretty impressive splits as well.
The men have been far more impressive than the women so far
Too many scandals on the women’s side…
Typically, it has been the opposite.