OLYMPICS/ Team china
Shi overcomes Wu to reach Olympic standard
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-25 11:49
CHONGQING -- Shi Feng defeated Chinese top butterfly swimmer Wu Peng in the men's 100m butterfly final on Monday at the national swimming championships.
Shi Feng celebrates his win in men's 100m butterfly at the national swimming championships in Chongqing, September 24, 2007. [Xinhua]
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Shi also became the second Chinese athlete to meet the event's Olympic A qualification standard.
Shi, 19, representing the Shanghai team, won the title at 52.61 seconds, edging Wu to the second place with 53.13 seconds. Chen Yin, from north China's Hebei team, finished third with 54.02 seconds. The Olympic A standard of the event is 52.86 seconds.
Shi said he had expected to reach the standard before the competition, and the national gold was not a surprise. "I hope I can also reach the A standard in the 200m butterfly event," he said.
Last month, Zhou Jiawei created a new Asian record of 52.19 seconds at the China Open swim in Beijing, making himself the first Chinese to be qualified for the event.
Zhou also swam in the evening heat here on Sunday, but failed to enter the final.
Shi's victory came as a dampener for his rival Wu Peng, who wanted to secure himself the A qualification.
"For the first 25 meters, I swam faster than Shi did. Considering my capabilities, I shouldn't have lagged behind," said Wu.
Wu has met the Olympic A qualifications for men's 200m butterfly when he took home a silver only second to American prodigy Michael Phelps at the 12th FINA World Championships held in Melbourne earlier this year.
He said the championships were his fifth match in the last three months, and a consecutive series of competitions have worn him out."I may have to fight for the qualification next year," said the 20-year-old swimmer.
FINA rules stipulate that an NOC may enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event if both entered athletes meet the A qualification standard for the respective event, or one athlete per event if they have met the B qualification standard only.
In the women's 100m freestyle final, national team member Pang Jiaying, who won six medals, including four golds at the Doha Asian games, again swam under the A qualification and clinched the title at 54.50 seconds.
Her result could elevate her ranking in the event from 22nd to the ninth worldwide, according to rankings at the FINA website.
In the men's 50m freestyle final, Shi Yang from Shanghai won the national gold at 22.93 seconds. Sun Yang from the Zhejiang team dominated in men's 400m freestyle final, finishing at 3 minutes 50.19 seconds.
In women's 800m freestyle final, 14-year-old You Meihong, from the Guangdong team touched the wall first, and her result was 8 minutes 36.24 seconds.
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