By Riley Overend on SwimSwam
An elbow injury at last month’s Short Course World Championships has prevented Zhang Yufei from resuming full strength training so far this year, but there is a silver lining: The setback has led the 24-year-old Chinese swimmer to focus on improving her lower-body strength, underwater, and turn technique during her rehab process.
Zhang picked up a bronze medal in the 50 butterfly and set a new Chinese record of 23.76 in the 50 free leading off one of China’s relays at Short Course Worlds before pulling out of her other events due to an elbow injury sustained midway through the meet. After returning home from Melbourne, Australia, she studied race footage to determine her deficiencies.
“I reflected on where I lost in the 50 butterfly, or where I was still short of the champion MacNeil, and I improved the technique of turning,” Zhang told China Sports News last week.
Now there’s a new emphasis on explosive power, running and jumping, agility and coordination, and balance in Zhang’s training.
Last year was a bit of an adjustment year for Zhang, but she said her focus this year will return to the 200 fly, the event in which she set an Olympic record in 2021. She also noted that her main goals for 2023 are winning the 200 fly at July’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and earning MVP honors at the Asian Games this fall in Hangzhou, China. Zhang took bronze at last year’s World Championships behind Hali Flickinger and Summer McIntosh.
Fellow Olympic champion Li Bingjie is back training with American coach Mark Schubert after testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of Short Course Worlds last month. Li, who was named 2022 Asian Female Swimmer of the Year for breaking Ariarne Titmus’ SCM 400 free world record by 2.6 seconds last October, is looking forward to competing against Titmus and Katie Ledecky at this year’s World Championships. They were deprived of a three-way showdown last year when Titmus opted not to attend the World Championships.
“I hope to use such a precious opportunity to compete with Ledecky and Titmus and strive to make further breakthroughs,” Li said.
Li said one of her biggest achievements of last year was working on her English nightly to the point where she can now communicate effectively with Schubert.
“The biggest achievement is that I can communicate better with the coach now,” she said. “I did not do well in this area before.”
The two Chinese trials for July’s World Championships and September’s Asian Games will take place in March and May, respectively.
SwimSwam: Zhang Yufei Focusing on Lower-Body Strength, Turns After Elbow Injury at SCW
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