On the evening of October 19, the second day of the 2024 FINA Swimming World Cup in Shanghai concluded with impressive performances from the Chinese swimming team. They secured gold medals in both the men’s 50-meter breaststroke and the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, setting new Asian short course records for both events. Additionally, the team earned silver medals in the women’s 50-meter butterfly and men’s 100-meter freestyle events.
This competition, held in a 25-meter short course pool, featured over 200 athletes competing across 34 individual events, split evenly between men and women. While short course meets are less common than long course events, they tend to be more thrilling, often leading to the breaking of both Asian and world records.
In the men’s 50-meter breaststroke, Qin Haiyang claimed gold with a time of 25.38 seconds, while Sun Jiajun finished in third place. Qin dominated the breaststroke events by also winning gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, breaking short course Asian records in both.
In the women’s 100-meter breaststroke final, Tang Qianting took the title with a record-breaking performance of 1:02.53. Returning to a familiar venue, Tang expressed how comforting it felt to compete there again, likening it to her childhood. This event marked her first international competition since the Paris Olympics. Reflecting on her performance, she shared a sense of disappointment, expressing her desire to further improve her speed and ultimately set her own short course world record.
The men’s 100-meter freestyle saw an intense battle where Pan Zhanle narrowly missed out on the gold, finishing just 0.03 seconds behind Italy’s Thomas Ceccon. In a post-race interview, Pan acknowledged the lack of systematic training leading into the match, stating that he only began rigorous training two weeks prior. “Given that, I was fairly satisfied with my result,” he remarked.
Before the race, Pan developed a friendly rapport with Ceccon, even teaching him how to say “I’m great” in Chinese. Ceccon expressed his fondness for Shanghai, saying, “From the boat, I saw the city at night, and it was beautifully illuminated.”
In the women’s 50-meter butterfly, Zhang Yufei and Yu Yiting earned silver and bronze medals, respectively. Zhang had also secured a silver in the previous day’s 50-meter freestyle event. She revealed that her emotions fluctuated with her results. “I was quite satisfied with my freestyle performance yesterday, but I had high expectations going into the butterfly. When I finished seventh in the morning heats, it shook my confidence, but the final result lifted my spirits,” she shared.
In other events that evening, Xu Jiayu and Kong Yaqi won bronze in the men’s 50-meter backstroke and women’s 200-meter freestyle, respectively, while Wang Shun finished fourth in the men’s 200-meter individual medley.
On the first day of the competition, the Chinese swimming team had already made waves, bringing home 2 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronzes while also breaking one world youth record and three Asian short course records.
