- Day 1 of the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne: Zhang Yufei progressed to the 50m butterfly final
- 2022-12-14 14:31:13.0 Source: Xinhuanet
Author: Hao Yalin Wang Qi
The 2022 World Short Course Swimming Championships started in Melbourne, Australia on the 13th. Chinese “Queen Butterfly” Zhang Yufei successfully advanced to the final of the women’s 50m butterfly and together with her teammates Yang Junxuan, Cheng Yujie and Wu Qingfeng also won sixth place in the women’s 4X100 m freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.96.
In the competition that day, Zhang Yufei took second place in the semifinals with a time of 24.79 seconds and successfully advanced to the finals. The 24.75 who swam in the preliminary rounds also set a new personal best.
“For the 50m butterfly, it is true that I am not very dominant, but the championship must be my main goal and I will definitely work for the championship,” Zhang Yufei said in an interview with reporters after the match.
She said that after arriving in Melbourne, she overcame the impact of jet lag for the first two days and almost adapted to the game that day. In this competition, she has set herself three small goals at different levels and she has to work hard to achieve them step by step: further improve her performance, break the Asian record and reach the gold medal.
“This year is a year of adjustment. I want to put my most stressful event aside and turn my attention to other events. Improving the short distance is ultimately for the 200m butterfly, and there is no conflict,” said Zhang Yufei.
Teens Wang Yichun and Wan Letian broke through to the women’s 50-meter butterfly and 100-meter backstroke semifinals, respectively, but could not go any further.
The host Australian team won the gold medal in the women’s 4X100m freestyle relay with a time of 3:25.43 and broke the world record with Emma McKean’s outstanding performance. The US and Canadian teams won second and third place, respectively, while the Chinese team finished sixth.
In other competitions on day one, Australia’s Pallister won the gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle with a time of 3:55.04. American players Douglas and Walsh won third and second place respectively in the women’s 200m medley at the Tokyo Olympics.
South African Matthew Seth won the men’s 200m medley in 1:50.15, while American Foster and Canadian Knox took silver and bronze respectively.
In the men’s 4X100m freestyle relay, the Italian team won the gold medal with a time of 3:02.75, followed by the Australian team and the US team.
