Chinese swimmers achieve record times in the run-up to Paris

Melbourne. While the global sports community reacted with shock to the massive doping case in China, the East Asian country’s swimmers ignored the furor at the Olympic trials and achieved a series of eye-catching times in the run-up to Paris.

China has not yet confirmed its selection for the Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11, but the Shenzhen trials showed that the team has enough medal chances to give swimming powerhouses the United States and Australia pause. .

Teenage sensation Pan Zhanle took seven gold medals in the events that concluded over the weekend, winning the 100m freestyle in a blistering time of 46.97 seconds, 0.17 seconds off her world record ( 46.80), established at the World Championships in Doha in February.

Pan’s emergence has reinforced China’s already solid options for gold in both the men’s event and the mixed relay, in which they will have the men’s breaststroke weapon, Qin Haiyang, and the women’s 200 meters Olympic champion. butterfly, Zhang Yufei.

Breaststroker Tang Qianting has also bolstered China’s medal chances in the women’s relay, while emerging as a threat to American world record holder Lilly King in the 100m individual event.

Tang, 20, won the 100m breaststroke in Shenzhen in an Asian swimming record of 1:04.68, a couple of months after taking the world title in Doha.

Wang Shun, the first Asian swimmer to win the gold medal in the men’s 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics, showed that he is still a powerhouse in the event at 30 years old, by becoming national champion with a time of 1 :55.35, his third best mark.

Chinese swimming is in the spotlight after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it would launch an independent review into its handling of a case that allowed 23 swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance to avoid punishment.

All of the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart drug, ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but were cleared of blame after a Chinese investigation found the results were due to contamination.

WADA accepted the explanation, but last week announced an independent review of the case after pressure from national anti-doping authorities.