Record breakers lay down gauntlet

Team China swimmers warm up for short-course world championships in scintillating style

With Team China's swimmers sending records tumbling in Beijing over the weekend, expectations are high they can enjoy a fruitful time at next month's short-course world championships in Melbourne.

A total of eight national records fell at the Chinese National Swimming Championships (25m) in the capital, but the most eye-catching result came on Thursday when Olympic champion Li Bingjie broke the women's 400-meter short-course world record in a time of 3 minutes 51.30 seconds.

Amazingly, the 20-year-old Li shaved nearly three seconds off Ariarne Titmus' world record of 3:53.92, which the Australian set at the Hangzhou worlds in 2018.

"I thought I could finish in about 3:53.00, but the final result really surprised me. I'm aiming to make more breakthroughs at the world championships," Li told reporters.

On Friday, Li maintained her momentum by clocking an Asian record in the 1,500m freestyle (15:41.80) and a national record in the 200m freestyle (1:51.25).Li is the reigning short-course world champion in 400m and 800m free and claimed gold in the women's 4x200m free relay and bronze in the 400m free at last year's Tokyo Olympics.