On May 23, the 2025 National Swimming Championships entered its 7th competition day, with finals held in six events that day.In the women's 50m butterfly final, Zhejiang’s Wu Qingfeng clinched the gold medal with a time of 25.77 seconds, while Shandong’s Wang Yichun took home the silver in 25.80 seconds, and Zhang Yufei secured bronze in 25.88 seconds. The World Championships A standard is 26.23 seconds, a mark that several swimmers achieved during the preliminaries and semifinals. According to the selection criteria, Wu Qingfeng and Wang Yichun have earned their spots at the World Championships, while Zhang Yufei has been granted priority reserve qualification.Zhang Yufei set the Asian record in her event (25.05) at the 2023 Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships, and she also claimed the meet record at the 2023 National Championships (25.57).In the men's 50m freestyle final, Pan Zhanle clinched the gold medal with a time of 22.19 seconds, edging out He Junyi by a narrow margin of 0.04 seconds—He finished second with 22.23 seconds. Chen Hao secured third place, touching in at 22.27 seconds. Notably, Pan Zhanle’s performance didn’t quite meet the World Championships A standard (22.05). Meanwhile, national record holder Yu Hexin, who clocked 22.28 seconds, missed out on the podium and finished fourth.This also marks Pan Zhanle’s seventh gold medal at this competition: four individual freestyle golds in the 50m, 100m, 200m, and 400m events, along with three relay golds—winning the men’s 4×100m freestyle relay, the men’s 4×200m freestyle relay, and the mixed 4×100m medley relay.In the women's 200m backstroke final, Peng Xuwei claimed the gold medal with a time of 2:07.63, while Liu Yaxin took home the silver with 2:09.09, and Qian Xin'an secured bronze in 2:10.45. Notably, all five top finishers met the World Championships A standard (2:11.08).
In the men's 100m butterfly final, Chen Jun'er swam a time of 51.03 seconds, breaking the meet record to claim the gold medal—also marking the second-fastest national performance ever in the men's 100m butterfly. Xu Fang also improved his personal best, finishing second with a time of 51.51 seconds. Both swimmers have now met the World Championships A standard (51.77). Meanwhile, Wang Xizhe secured third place with a time of 51.86 seconds.
In the women’s 800m freestyle final, Li Bingjie from Hebei, the Asian record holder (8:13.31), clinched the gold medal with a time of 8:20.68—more than 5 seconds ahead of silver medalist Yang Peiqi. This remarkable performance completed Li’s sweep of all three freestyle events at this championship, following her victories in the women’s 200m and 1500m freestyle races. Yang Peiqi finished second with a time of 8:26.06. Meanwhile, young swimmer Ma Yonghui secured third place, clocking in at 8:27.57. Notably, the World Championships A-standard for this event is 8:34.62, and all five finalists easily surpassed that mark.
In the mixed 4x100m freestyle final, the Zhejiang team—comprising He Junyi, Pan Zhanle, Wu Qingfeng, and Yu Yiting—claimed victory with a time of 3:24.14, shattering their own meet record of 3:27.01 set earlier by the same team. Guangdong finished second with 3:27.09, while Hubei took third place in 3:27.85. This gold medal brings Pan Zhanle’s total to eight Olympic golds.From left to right: Yu Yiting, He Junyi, Pan Zhanle, Wu QingfengAdditionally, in the men's 50m backstroke semifinal, Zhejiang swimmer Xu JiaYu clocked a time of 24.38 seconds—far ahead of the World Championships A-standard (25.11)—and not only shattered the meet record (24.42) but also tied his own national record, which he set at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023. At the 2023 Fukuoka World Swimming Championships, Xu JiaYu earned a bronze medal with a time of 24.50 seconds.
In the women's 50-meter breaststroke semifinal, Tang Qianting, the Asian record holder (29.51) from Shanghai, finished first with a time of 30.01 seconds, also setting a new meet record. The World Championships A-standard for this event is 30.75 seconds.
The schedule for May 24 is as follows:
Subscribe to Swimming Magazine today 👇Submissions are welcome! Please send your manuscripts to the editorial office of *Swimming* magazine at: [email protected]
