Asian Games, Day Four Finals: Zhang Zhanshuo Rips Asian Record in 200 Freestyle; 13-Year-Old Yu Zidi Makes History
What will Chinese 13-year-old Yu Zidi produced in the final of the 400-meter individual medley on the fourth night of finals at the Asian Games? That question follows the rising star’s previous two victories in the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley, the latter event generating the No. 2 performance in history. Now, Yu takes on the longer medley, where she is the overwhelming favorite for gold.
There are seven finals on the Night Four schedule, with the women’s 100 butterfly jumpstarting the session. That event will be followed by the men’s 100 butterfly, women’s 100 backstroke, men’s 200 freestyle, women’s 100 breaststroke, women’s 400 IM and the mixed medley relay.
China’s Tang Qianting, coming off a triumph in the 50 breaststroke earlier in the meet, is the favorite for gold in the 100 breaststroke, an event in which she is the Asian record holder. In the 200 freestyle, Zhang Zhanshuo will chase the title after registering a sub-1:43 split in the 800 freestyle relay. Individually, Zhang won the 1500 freestyle during Tuesday’s action.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Night Four finals:
Women’s 100 Butterfly
The Chinese duo of Yu Yiting and Zhang Yufei delivered a gold-silver finish, with Yu claiming victory in come-from-behind fashion. Already the winner of the 100 freestyle, Yu checked in with a time of 56.41, which was just .03 faster than the 56.44 of Zhang. At the turn, Zhang had the lead, 26.07 to 26.64, but Yu was significantly quicker on the homecoming length, where she split 29.77, compared to the 30.37 of her countrywoman.
Taking the bronze medal was Hong Kong’s Natalie Kan, behind a swim of 58.05.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Following a sub-50 split on Japan’s 400 medley relay earlier in the meet, Shoon Mitsunaga was the favorite to walk away with the title in the 100 butterfly, and he accomplished that feat with a Games record. Mitsunaga turned in a time of 50.56. That effort was good for a Japanese record and enabled Shoon to finish ahead of China’s Xu Fang, who touched the wall in 50.73. The previous Japanese record belonged to Naoki Mizunuma, who went 50.81 at the 2022 World Championships.
Rounding out the podium was Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who went 51.36.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
As an encore to her national record and gold medal in the 200 backstroke from Tuesday night, China’s Peng Xuwei added another victory at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, this time in the 100 backstroke. Peng was one of only two swimmers to break the minute barrier in the event, going 59.30 for a comfortable margin over Japan’s Rio Shirai (59.89). Also reaching the podium was Korea’s Kim Seungwon (1:00.10).
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Riding the momentum of his spectacular anchor split in the 800 freestyle relay and his triumph in the 1500 freestyle, China’s Zhang Zhanshuo delivered a masterful performance for gold in the 200 freestyle. Sitting third through the midway point of the race and in second through 150 meters, Zhang blasted away from the field over the last length to win in 1:43.49, good for an Asian record and a time that moves him to the No. 5 performer in history.
Zhang split sub-1:43 as China won the 800 freestyle relay earlier in the meet, so there were high expectations for what he would do in the individual 200 freestyle. Zhang split 24.37 for the first lap and was at 50.78 at the 100-meter mark. He made the turn for home in 1:17.53 and destroyed his opposition during the last 50 meters, which he covered in 25.96. His outing took nearly a second off the Chinese record previously held by Sun Yang (1:44.39; 2017) and bettered the former Asian record of Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo (1:43.92).
Hwang was the silver medalist behind Zhang, as he registered a time of 1:44.62, which was ahead of the bronze time for Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa (1:44.81).
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
China’s Tang Qianting continued to star in Tokyo, as she backed up her earlier win in the 50 breaststroke with a commanding decision in the 100 breaststroke. Tang was the lone swimmer to break 1:05, establishing an Asian Games record of 1:04.98 to prevail by nearly a second. She was followed by Japan’s Satomi Suzuki, the 35-year-old veteran who remains at the top of her game. Suzuki covered her two laps in 1:05.83, with countrywoman Kato Kotomi going 1:06.37 for the bronze medal.
Women’s 400 Individual Medley
History was made by China’s 13-year-old phenom, Yu Zidi, in the final of the 400 individual medley. En route to her third gold medal of the competition, Yu joined the sub-4:30 club in the 400 IM, going 4:28.56 for a Games record. That swim bettered Yu’s previous best, a 4:30.79, and made her the eighth woman in history to visit 4:20s territory. Yu is now the fifth-fastest performer of all-time.
Yu went out in 1:00.11 to take the lead on the opening butterfly leg and dominated from that point forward. She made the turn after the backstroke in 2:07.68 and split 3:26.02 following the breaststroke leg. Her final time was just .13 off the Asian and Chinese records of Ye Shiwen, the 2012 Olympic champion. Picking up the silver medal was China’s Ke Wenxi (4:32.51) while Japan’s Mio Narita was the bronze medalist in 4:33.45.
Mixed 400 Medley Relay
It was all China in the final of the mixed 400 medley relay. Behind the foursome of Xu Jiayu, Dong Zhihao, Zhang Yufei and Yu Yiting, China secured the title in 3:40.38, well ahead of Japan (3:43.98) and Korea (3:44.12). Xu led off with a backstroke leg of 52.28 while Dong followed with a breaststroke effort of 58.28. On the back half, Zhang went 56.89 for the butterfly and Yu closed with a freestyle anchor of 52.93.
