Budapest 2024, Day 3 Finals: Tang Qianting Wins 100 Breast as WR Survives Again
Tang Qianting has done everything in the women’s 100 breaststroke except break the world record. She’s not alone in that.
One of the most oddly resilient world records on the books survived yet another buzzing from the young Chinese star, who won gold in 1:02.38 on Thursday at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest.
Tang’s time is .01 slower than the time she set in semifinals. It’s .02 slower than a world record that has stood since 2012.
American Lilly King earned silver with a time of 1:02.80. Eneli Jefimova, who turns 18 this month, grabbed the biggest medal of her young career with bronze.
The 100 breast is one of the most bizarre records in the world, a seemingly Teflon 1:02.36. It’s held jointly by Alia Atkinson and Ruta Meilutyte. The Lithuanian swam the mark in 2013, then Atkinson tied it in 2014 and 2016. At the former, Meilutyte got within a tenth of it twice.
Tang’s prelim swim was the seventh time within a tenth of a second of the mark, her finals swim the eighth. There are now 32 performance within six tenths of it. Yet the mark held by two swimmers from very different countries and very non-traditional swimming nations still holds.
Tang’s win is part of an outstanding year for the 20-year-old from Shanghai. The Olympic silver medalist in this events bookends three medals in Paris with gold at Worlds in Doha and Budapest over both courses.
King’s silver is her 11th at Short-Course Worlds. The 27-year-old won silver in this race way back in 2016, behind Atkinson. Jefimova was in elementary school then. The Estonian, who is a European champion over both courses in this event, has her first significant senior medal on the global stage.
A pair of neutral athletes finished just off the podium. Alina Zmushka was fourth in 1:03.41 after hitting the halfway point in third. Evgeniia Chikunova finished fifth in 1:03.79.
