(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-03 14:30

SHAOXING, East China - China's top freestyler Zhang Lin set a new national record of three minutes 44.97 seconds in the men's 400 meters freestyle at an Olympics test event here on Thursday.

Zhang Lin celebrates after winning the men's 400 meters freestyle at the National Swimming Championships in Shaoxing of east China's Zhejiang Province April 3, 2008. Zhang shaved 0.07 seconds from his own national record to 44.97 seconds to win the title. [Xinhua]

"This is a good result, but as far as I know, the score would be out of the top three at the Olympics. There is still a long way to go if I want to get any medal in the event," Zhang said.

The 21-year-old swimmer shaved 0.07 second from his own national record of 3:45.04 set at the Good Luck Beijing Swimming China Open competition in February.

In the final, Zhang led throughout the race, beating national teammate Sun Yang to the second with 3:48.26.

Zhang said he will go to Australia for more training in May.

The world record for the event is 3:40.08, set by Australia's Ian Thorpe in 2002.

At the Olympic trials, Zhang claimed the title of the men's 200 freestyle on Tuesday, clocking 1:47.63 and nearly hitting his national record set at the 2007 World Championships.