Sun Jiajun Shaves Another .01 Off Newly-Minted SCM 50 Fly Asian Record

2024 CHINESE SHORT COURSE NATIONALS

The 2024 Chinese Short Course Nationals rolled on from Wuhan with Sun Jiajun putting up another powerful performance in the men’s 50m fly.

After delving under the 22-second barrier for his first time ever en route to registering a new Asian Record in last night’s semi-final (21.97), 24-year-old Sun shaved off another .01 to ultimately clock 21.96 for the gold.

That now represents the new Chinese national and Asian continental record for the Olympian, with Shen Jiahao touching in 22.77 for silver and Wu Shengkai hitting 22.98 for bronze.

Sun remains the #7 performer of all time in the men’s SCM 50 fly event.

Top 10 Men’s SCM 50 Fly Performers All-Time

1. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) – 21.75, 2021 & Nicholas Santos (BRA) – 21.75, 2018
2. –
3. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 21.79, 2023
4. Steffan Deibler (GER) – 21.80, 2009
5. Roland Schoeman (RSA) – 21.87, 2009
6. Chad Le Clos (RSA) – 21.95, 2014
7. Sun Jiajun (CHN) – 21.96, 2024
8. Dylan Carter (TTO) – 21.98, 2021
9. Tom Shields (USA) – 21.99, 2021
10. Teong Tzen Wei (SGP) – 22.01, 2022

Another Asian Record went down on the women’s side, courtesy of 20-year-old Tang Qianting.

Racing in the semi-final of the women’s 100m breast, Olympic medalist Tang crushed a new lifetime best of 1:02.66 to claim the top seed for tomorrow night’s main event. You can read more about Tang’s impressive feat here.

6-time Olympic medalist from Paris Zhang Yufei was in the water tonight as well, contesting the final of the women’s 50m fly.

After taking the top seed in last night’s semi-final with a result of 25.30, 26-year-old Zhang dropped it down to 25.16 to grab the gold ahead of the field.

Wang Yichun was next to the wall in 25.41 and Yu Yiting rounded out the podium in 25.46.

Zhang owns the Chinese national record and Asian continental record with her lifetime best of 24.71 from the 2022 World Championships when she bagged the bronze.

Reigning 200m breaststroke world champion Dong Zhihao dove in for the semi-finals of the men’s 100m breast this evening.

The 19-year-old scored the top time in 56.98 to hold nearly a one-second advantage over the rest of his competitors. Qiu Tian hit 57.90 as the 2nd seed while Zheng Yinghao touched in 58.06 for the #3 seed.

According to the World Aquatics database, Dong’s outing here checks the teen in as China’s 5th-swiftest performer in history.

Additional Notes

• Qian Xinan put up a speedy 56.68, a new lifetime best, to top the women’s 100m back podium. Peng Xuwei earned silver in 56.99 and Zheng Huiyu touched in 57.52 for the bronze.
• The men’s 100m back saw Wang Gukailai maintain his pole position from last night’s semi-final, grabbing gold in 50.50. He’s now the #2 performer in Chinese swimming history, sitting only behind national record holder Xu Jiayu and his PB of 48.88 from 2018.
• Liu Shuhan reaped the top seed in the women’s 100m free semi-finals in a time of 52.68. That marked the sole outing of the field under the 53-second barrier.
• The men’s edition of the 100m free saw He Junyi turn in a time of 47.32 to eke out the top spot just .03 ahead of Liu Wudi who was next to the wall in 47.35. Then just .01 was Wang Haoyu in 47.36 to set up a fierce battle for the gold tomorrow evening.
• In the women’s 800m free final, Ma Yonghui hit 8:13.67 as the gold medalist, beating her competitors by nearly 8 seconds. She’s now China’s 4th-best performer of all time in this event.