On the evening of April 27, the nine-day 2024 National Swimming Championships came to an end at the Shenzhen Universiade Center Natatorium.
The competition is completely in line with the Paris Olympic Games three months later from the project setting, schedule, competition system and competition time, and the event guarantee is also operated with high quality, high requirements and high standards, and provides an operation model for the 15th National Games to be held in the "Greater Bay Area". In the actual combat training before the Olympic Games, the results of the Chinese swimming army gave everyone a lot of surprises. Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei and other backbones have played steadily, young players such as Pan Zhanle, Tang Qianting, Yang Junxuan and other young players have also performed well, and veterans such as Wang Shun and Ye Shiwen have achieved outstanding results, which can not help but make people feel that Chinese swimming has ushered in a new "golden generation".
The backbone is still unrelenting
2023 will be a very busy year for "Frog King" Qin Haiyang and "Butterfly Queen" Zhang Yufei. As the leaders of their respective individual events, the two are actually not easy. Spring Swimming Championships in March, National Swimming Championships in May, World Championships in Fukuoka in July, Chengdu Universiade in August, Hangzhou Asian Games in September, Three Swimming World Cups in October, and National Swimming Championships in December...... The two who trained in the competition were in unison to win the gold medal. Their goal is simple – to become the "gold king" at the Paris Olympics.
Zhang Yufei
In Shenzhen, the duo became veritable "pool superstars", attracting cheers and applause from the audience inside the stadium, while spectators outside the stadium were expecting autographs and photos from their idols.
Behind the quality of idols, there is diligent practice day after day. When he came to Shenzhen, the "Frog King" did not slack off at all, "focusing on himself and preparing for every game very seriously." My goal is to swim faster, and the ultimate goal is the Olympics."
In the Paris Olympics, Qin Haiyang has many competitors, and Adam Peaty, the two-time Olympic champion in Rio and Tokyo, has begun to recover gradually, and not long ago he swam a good time of 57.94 seconds. Qin Haiyang said that his opponent's results were expected and that he is looking forward to competing against his opponent at the Paris Olympics: "All breaststrokers are looking forward to competing against Adam Peaty. ”
Zhang Yufei, who has just won the honor of "Moving China 2023 Person of the Year", has a lot of burden, and she is also shouldering the heavy responsibility of the relay event in addition to individual events at the Paris Olympics. Looking forward to Paris, Zhang Yufei told reporters that he is very much looking forward to regaining the gold medal and world record in the men's and women's 4×100m medley relay that he missed in the Tokyo Olympics: "Our last Olympic Games was a silver medal, and last year's Asian Games were not much worse than the world record." Actually, as long as we play at the level we deserve, I don't think any other team can swim us. ”
Qin Haiyang
The former waves can still compete for gold and silver
In the audience at the Shenzhen Universiade Center Natatorium, a fan's banner was very eye-catching, "Wang Shun, the ancient Greek god in charge of the 200-meter mix". This slogan is no exaggeration, because in Shenzhen, Wang Shun, who has entered his 30s, can still win the gold medal in the men's 200-meter medley with a time of 1:55.35 among the new generation of young athletes with the world's top level.
It is worth mentioning that at last year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, he became the only person in 12 years to swim into the 1:55 mark after 1:54.62 after the American stars Phelps and Rochte in 2011. Next, Wang Shun, who was born in 1994, will participate in his fourth Olympic Games. As he grows older, Wang Shun will inevitably encounter many severe tests and challenges, but his goal remains clear: "I hope that when I am still in the pool, I can set an example for everyone who comes after me." We can show everyone that when Chinese swimmers are over 30 years old, we can still compete for gold and silver in the Olympic Games. ”
Wang Shun
The same generation as Wang Shun is also the veteran Ye Shiwen, who is still sticking to the dream of fighting for another Olympic Games, which makes Ye Shiwen firmly believe that "the wind of London can blow to Paris".
Ye Shiwen told a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News: "In fact, after the 400-meter mixed swim, I hit myself quite hard, I once discussed withdrawing from the coach and the team, and seeing so many swimming fans to support me made me have the determination to go on." ”
In fact, Ye Shiwen's initial goal was to hit the Olympic quota for the women's 400m medley, and the entire winter training cycle also revolved around the 400m medley, but a month before the competition, her body had a condition - diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which not only made all efforts go to waste, but also overturned her preparation plan.
Although Ye Shiwen's results in the 400-meter medley were not satisfactory, in the women's 200-meter breaststroke event, Ye Shiwen defeated the rising teenager Tang Qianting to win the championship. Ye Shiwen can still prove with strength that age does not limit a veteran's determination to cut waves in the pool. She does not forget to encourage juniors: "I want to tell young athletes that there can be many twists and turns in their sports careers. When you go uphill, you should expect to fall to the bottom one day. Since you have chosen this path, you must stick to it. We need to accept all the results and not be knocked down by setbacks and failures!"
The back waves, starting to take charge of themselves
Pan Zhanle, Zhang Zhanshuo, Tang Qianting, Yang Junxuan, Wang Haoyu...... These names are quite interesting in this competition. Among them, Pan Zhanle is the most representative. Born in 2004, Pan Zhanle shined at the 2024 World Swimming Championships in Doha, not only winning the men's 100-meter freestyle championship, but also breaking the world record in the event.
For Asian athletes competing in the men's 100m freestyle, 48 seconds seems like a difficult barrier to break through. But in Shenzhen, Pan Zhanle showed his super strength. In the preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals, he swam faster and faster every time, and his results were better and better, and finally won the championship with a time of 46.97 seconds, which was the third time he swam under 47 seconds.
So far, there are only a few people in Asia who can break the 48-second mark in the men's 100-meter freestyle, and there are only 5 players in the world who can swim within 47 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle, of which only Pan Zhanle and Romania's Popovich can swim within 47 seconds many times. Speaking about his goals for the Paris Olympics, Poon said: "I need to be faster than this time before I can be competitive. ”
In addition to Pan Zhanle, many young players in the Chinese swimming world also performed remarkably in this national championship.
Pan Zhanle
Tang Qianting, who is the same age as Pan Zhanle, broke the Asian record twice in the women's 100m breaststroke competition, swimming 1:04.68 in the semifinals and 1:04.39 in the final. When the reporter asked if she had a new goal for the upcoming Paris Olympics after breaking the Asian record twice, Tang Qianting's eyes were firm: "The goal has always been there, nothing has changed, the main thing is to break through yourself, swim the best results, and improve the details in training." ”
In the women's 100m freestyle final, Yang Junxuan won the championship with a time of 52.68 seconds, while breaking the national record of 52.90 seconds set by Zhang Yufei in 2020. Many young athletes have achieved their best results of the year or set new personal bests in this competition.
The Chinese swimming team continues to improve the depth of talents, and the healthy competition within the team makes the athletes swim stronger and stronger. The Chinese team has emerged more reserve forces in the Paris Olympic cycle, and the Chinese swimming team has historically participated in all seven relay events of the Olympic Games. Whether it is an individual event or a relay event, the Chinese swimmers have the hard power to compete for gold and silver. In Paris, the front and back waves of the Chinese swimming team can finally work together to fight a long-awaited "battle of prosperity".
Text | Reporter Long Xi
Figure | Visual China
Editor: Long Xi