Top swimmers compete at Universiade Center

The 2025 Chinese National Swimming Championships kicked off Saturday in Shenzhen, with the competition representing the sole opportunity for swimmers to qualify for this summer’s World Championships.

Competition is fierce and athletes will need to put up some of the best times of their careers in order to make the grade and book their tickets to Singapore.

Right off the bat, we saw a monster swim at the hands of Olympian Li Bingjie in the women’s 400-meter free with the 23-year-old firing off a new Asian Record of 3:59.99. She dipped under the 4:00 barrier for the first time ever, becoming just the 6th woman ever to do so.

The men’s 400-meter free final demonstrated the otherworldly range of 20-year-old Pan Zhanle. The reigning 100-meter free Olympic champion and world record holder stopped the clock at 3:45.34 to eke out the victory narrowly ahead of Fei Liwei who settled for silver just .23 behind. Former Olympic champion Sun Yang captured bronze in 3:47.53.

The rest of the individual events on Saturday’s agenda were semi-finals. Yu Yiting grabbed the top slot in the women’s 200-meter individual medley, registering a time of 2:10.56. Fellow Olympian Ye Shiwen is in the mix with a 2nd-seeded 2:11.92 while Yu Zidi secured the 3rd seed.

Yu Yiting also made it happen in the women’s 100-meter fly, producing a top-seeded outing of 57.57 to hold the advantage of 6-time Olympic medalist Zhang Yufei. Zhang held fast at 57.94, with Wang Yichun earning the 3rd seed in 58.14.

The games, held at Shenzhen Universiade Center in Longgang, will run until May 24.

(From L) Fei Liwei, Pan Zhanle and Sun Yang on the podium after winning the men’s 400-meter freestyle final at the 2025 Chinese National Swimming Championships in Shenzhen on Saturday. Photos by Xinhua

Kong Yaqi dives into the pool during the women’s 4X100 freestyle relay. She and her teammates won the champion in the game.

Zhang Yufei waves to fans before the women’s 100-meter butterfly semifinal.

Li Bingjie (C) in the women’s 400-meter freestyle final.

Fei Liwei (R) congratulates Pan Zhanle for winning the men’s 400-meter freestyle final.