China's Zhang Lin in the 400m free final
(BEIJING, February 2) -- China earned four straight titles and a new national record set by Zhang Lin. Seven finals of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Swimming China Open were staged on Saturday morning, and Zhang Lin, who carried away two titles, was undoubtedly the most brilliant star in the "Water Cube."
In the women's 50m freestyle final, staged first, German veteran Britta Steffen clinched an easy victory with a time of 24.93. Steffen had won the women's 100m freestyle final Friday. Delaroli Cazziolato of Brazil finished second, and Steffen's compatriot Daniela Goetz came in third.
In the men's 100m breaststroke final, Japanese swimmers monopolized the top two places: Tateishi Ryo took the title with a time of 1:01.58, leading his compatriot Suenaga Yuta by 0.52. Hungarian veteran Daniel Gyurta ranked fifth.
Zhu Qianwei of China in the women's 200m free final: I'm number one
In the women's 200m breaststroke final, Jung Seul Ki of Republic of Korea took the crown with a time of 2:25.16, and her compatriot, Jeong Darae, finished second. Qi Hui, who had earned an Olympic Qualification A berth and was to compete in the women's 100m breaststroke preliminaries this evening, finished eighth.
In the men's 400m freestyle final, Zhang Lin improved over his best time of 3:46.27, which he achieved in Australia recently, to a time of 3:45.04 and broke the national record he set. Compatriot Sun Yang and Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski came in second and third, respectively.
In the women's 200m freestyle final, Zhu Qianwei of China carried off the gold and set her personal best time of 1:58.90. German veteran Annika Lurz and Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland took the second and third places.
In the women's 800m freestyle final, You Meihong of China overtook Cozma Lonela of Romania after 450m to wrap up the victory with a time of 8:31.18. Her compatriot Li Mo finished second by a margin of 9.18.
The morning's finals were highlighted by the men's 4x200m free relay, staged last. The Chinese team, consisting of Huang Shaohua, Zhang Zhitao, Xin Tong and Zhang Lin, overtook Germany, thanks to Zhang Lin's tough fight at 700m to clinch the title with a time of 7:23.15.
The heats of four events -- women's 400m freestyle, men's 100m freestyle, women's 100m breaststroke and men's 200m breaststroke -- will be staged beginning at 6:30 on Saturday evening.
The "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Swimming China Open is being held at the National Aquatics Center from January 31 to February 5.
(Credit: The Official Website of "Good Luck Beijing" Sport Events)
