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Sun Sets Hot Pace For World Over 800m

Apr 3, 2011  - Craig Lord

On the second day at China nationals in Wuhan, Sun Yang sent further warning to distance rivals around the world that his soaring 2010 season was no passing phase: in 7:44.12 he leads the world over 800m freestyle.

The Zheijang swimmer coached by Denis Cotterell at Miami on the Gold Coast last year came within a second of the mega-world mark of 14:34.56  set by the Australian mentor's former pupil Grant Hackett in 2011.

Today in Wuhan he was a league ahead of Dai Jun (Shanghai) 7:54.53, a step up for the 18-year-old from a best of 8:00.77 last year, and 17-year-old  Li Yunqi (Henan), on 7:56.66, up from a 2010 best of 8:07.26. Remarkable progress.

The China story has long been largely a women's phenomenon and so it largely remains, Ye Shiwen, Sun's Zheijang teammate and a 14-year-old on 2:10.11 in the 200m medley, second in the world so far this year behind Alicia Coutts (AUS). Ye clocked the best time in the world last year, on 2:09.37.

In Wuhan, silver went to Zhu Xiaoya (Jiangsu), 2:12.24, bronze to Xue Jiao (Guangzhou Army), 2:14.36. Zhu, 17, improved her best of 2:13.36, while Xue has a best of 2:13.99 from 2009.

Shao Yiwen, 15, took the 400m free in 4:05.60, in the world top 5 this season and just 0.02sec shy of her best effort last year. The silver went to Song Wenyan (Shandong), on 4:05.81, up from a best of 4:08.62, the bronze to Chen Shiyun (Jiangxi) 4:07.53, which locked out China's best ever in textile, Li Xuanxu (Hunan), on 4:08.11. 

In the 100m free, Tang Yi (Shanghai) clocked 54.08 for victory ahead of Wang Shijia (Liaoning) 54.69 and Li Zhesi (Liaoning) 54.94 (that last time could be 55.94, though three sources differ...).  Update: From a source at the meet in China, to whom we are most grateful, the official result sheet reads:  54.08 Tang Yi; 54.61 Wang Shijia; 54.69  Li Zhesi.

In other action, the men's 50m butterfly went to Zhou Jiawei (Guangdong) in 23.96 ahead of Shi Yang (Shanghai), 24.55, and Chen Weiwu (Shandong), 24.37. The 100m backstroke was claimed by Cheng Feiyi (Liaoning) in 54.21 ahead of Sun Xiaolei (Shanghai), 54.42, and 200m winner and record holder on day 1, Zhang Fenglin (Shandong), on 54.95.  Zhang is 17 and faster than Aaron Peirsol was at the same age - in both the 100m and 200m.

The last event of the session the men's 4x100 free relay went to Shanghai in 3:19.84 ahead of Jiangsu, 3:20.93, and Guangdong, 3:21.52.

The SwimNews World Rankings have been updated with all action from around the world today, including events in Australia, China and Spain.