On the second day of China nationals in Rizhao, first reports indicate that Li Xuanxu claimed the women's 400m medley in 4.35.61, a little down on best, Zhou Yanxin took the 200m backstroke in 2:09.60, while no-one in the men's 100m butterfly managed to crack 52sec. The men's 200m free went to Li Yunqi a touch inside 1:49. Shanghai took the women's 4x100m freestyle (three sources, three different times).
We'd like to report more accurate information but poor reports from China, with three sources quoting conflicting times on the first day of action. The CSA website does not report its national championship at all, as far as we can make out, while one report today states times for the men's 50m breaststroke that range from a world record that could not possibly be true to a time that would suggest the swimmer was wearing fur boots for the race.
As and when more reliable information is available, we will endeavour to bring it to you. For now, below are the podiums as reported by three separate sources, the times largely reflecting those reported by two of those sources, but not coinciding with a third set of results. Swimming as it used to be before FINA was formed in 1908 and standardisation began. After doping enquiries from 1998-2000, the CSA responded to FINA with an assurance that it would become a full member of the international swimming community, through engagement and openness. Reporting results and providing an accurate record for the world rankings is an important part of that. China is falling down on the job - badly. Time for FINA to have a word with its own: Qiuping Zhang is a member of the ruling Bureau and will understand well the issues at play.
Overnight, SwimNews received mails from coaches and swimmers who suggested that China was still seeking to hide the problems inherent in its domestic programme, including doping.
Such suspicions hang on two things: the past (and we know how dark that was) and the present. Xinhua has covered every China national for the past 10 years. It has provided a valuable source of public information. But not this time. In a year when the Chinese news agency has covered US nationals, Australian nationals, the Mare Nostrum Tour, and several other swimming events around the world, including domestic events with no Chinese involvement, it ceases to cover its own national championships. Xinhua was also accredited for the European Championships, though the desk and seat remained empty throughout the week in Budapest.
It is not, of course, Xinhua's responsibility to report Chinese swimming results. That is the responsibility of the CSA. Reports out of China via third parties suggest that chaos reigns and that conditions are far from ideal beyond the periphery of a vast and impressive facility in Rizhao.
SwimNews has now requested a set of official results from Rizhao from the CSA.
Meanwhile, results at a glance (the accuracy of the times is not reliable until official confirmation is received):
Men
200 free:
- Li Yunqi 1:48.81
- Jiang Yuhui 1:49.13
- Dai Jun (Shanghai) 1:49.49
50 breaststroke:
- Xie Zhi 28.17
- Li Tianhao 28.38
- Gū Biaorong 28.36
100 butterfly:
- Zhou Jiawei 52.34
- Zhang Zishan 52.93
- Chen Yin 53.01
Women
200 backstroke:
- Zhou Yanxin (Shanghai) 2:09.60
- Zhao Jing (Hei Longjian) 2:10.45
- Liu Yali (PLA) 2:11.38
400 medley:
- Li Xuanxu (Hunan) 4:35.61
- Ye Shiwen 4:38.17
- Cheng Rongrong 4:40.37
4x100 freestyle relay:
- Shanghai 3:42.42
- Liaoning 3:44.37
- Beijing 3:46.99
