Swimming

Pan Zhanle Produces 3:45.58 400 Free Personal Best On Day 1 Of Chinese Trials

By

on

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2024 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2024 Chinese National Swimming Championships kicked off today from Shenzhen with the competition spanning a massive 10 days on the journey to Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification.

Already on day one, we saw four swimmers add their names to the potential Chinese roster, 2 for the men and 2 for the women.

The men’s 400m free was one of tonight’s finals, with newly-minted 100m freestyle world record holder Pan Zhanle firing off a new lifetime best en route to gold.

19-year-old Pan stopped the clock in 3:45.58 to get a narrow edge over runner-up Zhang Zhanshuo who touched in 3:45.82 for silver. Fei Liwei was also right in the mix, settling for bronze in 3:45.96.

All 3 men comfortably cleared the World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Time of 3:46.78 needed for selection, although just the top 2 will get the nod.

For Pan, the teen erased his previous lifetime best performance of 3:46.40 notched at the 2023 edition of the Chinese Nationals. He moves up to rank as China’s 6th-best performer of all-time in this 400m free event and ranks 11th in the world on the season. We’ll have to wait and see if the teen actually opts to add this event to his Paris lineup.

All-Time Chinese Men’s LCM 400 Free Performers

  1. Sun Yang – 3:40.14, 2011
  2. Zhang Lin – 3:41.35, 2009
  3. Hao Yun – 3:44.87, 2013
  4. Zhang Zhanshuo – 3:45.11, 2023
  5. Li Yunqi – 3:45.49, 2012
  6. Pan Zhanle – 3:45.58, 2024
  7. Ji Xinjie – 3:45.64, 2019

Pan’s performance is a testament to his versatility, as the ace owns the following PBs:

  • 50m free – 21.92
  • 100m free – 46.80, World Record
  • 200m free – 1:44.65
  • 400m free – 3:45.58

The women’s 400m free final also saw two finishers make the grade, led by 22-year-old Olympian Li Bingjie.

Li registered a winning effort of 4:04.03 with Liu Yaxin right behind in 4:04.88. Yang Peiqi rounded out the podium in 4:05.25.

Both Li and Liu dipped under the OQT of 4:07.90, although Li has been faster this season, courtesy of the 4:01.62 she turned in for silver at this year’s World Championships.

She owns a personal best of 4:01.08 from the 2020 Olympic Games, a time which remains as China’s national record and the Asian Record. Li hit that same mark twice, with her 2nd time happening at this same competition last year.

In semi-final action, 4 of the top 6 fastest Chinese men ever claimed the top spots in the 100m breaststroke event.

Reigning Chinese national and Asian continental record holder Qin Haiyang raced his way to the pole position in a solid swim of 58.62.

Qin fired off a lifetime best of 57.69 during the World Cup last year, becoming the #2 performer in history in the process.

He’ll be the man to beat in tomorrow’s final, chased by Sun Jiajun who snagged the 2nd seed in 59.14. World Junior Record holder in the 200m breast, Dong Zhihao, will also flank Qin in 59.61 while former Asian record holder Yan Zibei claimed the 4th seed in 1:00.26.

Dong has already outperformed the 1:00.45 he put up in the heats of this 1breast event in Doha. Yan remains China’s #2 performer ever with his 58.63 personal best put on the books at the 2019 World Championships.

All-Time Chinese Men’s LCM 100 Breaststroke Performers

  1. Qin Haiyang – 57.69, 2023
  2. Yan Zibei – 58.63, 2019
  3. Sun Jiajun – 58.99, 2023
  4. Wang Lizhuo – 59.44, 2019
  5. Li Xiang – 59.55, 2016
  6. Dong Zhihao – 59.61, 2024

Olympic multi-gold medalist Zhang Yufei wasted no time staking her claim on the women’s 100m fly.

The versatile 26-year-old crushed a mark of 56.47 as the sole swimmer of the field under the 57.50 threshold. As quick as this semi swim was, Zhang’s season-best checks in at the 55.86 put up for gold at last year’s Asian Games to rank #2 in the world.

Wang Yichun sits as the 2nd-seeded athlete in 57.55, within half a second of her PB of 57.05 from last year’s Chinese Spring Nationals.

Yu Yiting also already got under the Paris 2024 QT of 57.92 with a 3rd-seeded 57.61 for tomorrow night’s final.

SwimSwam: Pan Zhanle Produces 3:45.58 400 Free Personal Best On Day 1 Of Chinese Trials

Related Items

You must be logged in to post a comment Login