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Wang wins men's breaststroke at Nationals, eyes for breakthrough in Rio

Xinhua, April 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese Navy's swimmer Wang Lizhuo continued his good form at the National Championships and won the men's 100m breaststroke in 59.69 seconds here on Monday.

The 17-year-old renewed the national record of the event on Sunday's semifinals with a world third fastest time 59.79 and expected his Olympic debut this year in Rio.

"I hope I can set a new person best at the Olympic Games," he said. "I still have a lot to improve, especially in my starts and turns."

Wang used to be a freestyle and medley swimmer, and just turned to breaststroke for about a year.

"I have good skills, which is very important for breaststroke," he said. "But I still have a long way to go to compete with the best swimmers."

The Rio Games will be Wang's first international competition.

Wang's participation at the National Championships arouses attention of some foreign media as he failed a doping test for Clenbuterol last August.

The China Swimming Association (CSA) announced six positive doping tests in March and Wang was one of them.

The CSA gave warning to Wang and fined him for 5,000RMB (about 772 U.S. dollars). Wang is not banned from competition and has already qualified for the Olympic Games.

Tianjin's Li Xiang and Hubei's Yan Zibei shared the second place in 1:00.19.

Shanghai swimmers Chen Xinyi and Lu Ying took a one-two finish in the women's 100m butterfly with 56.82 and 57.17 respectively, while Jiangsu's Zhang Yufei came third in 57.99. Liu Zige ranked fifth.

Chen and Lu's times ranked second and third in the world rankings this year.

In the women's 400m freestyle, Shandong's Xin Xin touched in 4:05.98 to win the gold, a world fifth fastest time. Shannxi's Cao Yue was second in 4:07.12, while Beijing Bayi's Zhang Yuhan placed third in 4:07.30.

Also Monday, team Beijing won the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:18.41, Guangdong and Shanghai took second and third respectively.

The National Swimming Championships, runs from April 3 to 10, also serves as Olympic trials.

Olympic champion Sun Yang skipped the competition due to foot injuries. Endi