Chinese swimmers sweep Fukuoka Swimming Worlds

(From left) Chinese swimmers Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei and Cheng Yujie have fun in an interview after their victory in the final of the mixed 4x100 meters medley relay during the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on July 26, 2023. Team China put together a winning time of 3 minutes and 38.57 seconds. Photo: VCG

Team China swept the just concluded Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, securing the top position on the gold medal leaderboard with 20 gold medals. Among these remarkable victories, the swimming events contributed five gold medals, artistic swimming added three, and an outstanding 12 gold medals were earned in the diving competitions. All told, China secured a total of 40 medals.

On Sunday night, the Chinese team won the silver medal in the men's 4×100m medley relay, setting a new record for Asia. This is the first time the Chinese team has won a medal in this event. China's Xu Jiayu won a bronze medal in the men's 50m backstroke, which is the first-ever medal Team China has won in the event. 

Zhang Yufei, who had clinched the 200m butterfly title and 100m silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, continued her winning streak in Fukuoka, securing a bronze in the women's 50m butterfly event. She previously won a gold medal in swimming with a time of 56.12 seconds in the 100m butterfly event on July 24.

Wang Dazhao, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times that the Chinese swimming team's performance is within expectations, while the diving team remains the front runner in the world's diving.

"Chinese swimmers made their mark in this year's worlds and we saw a new breakthrough in the men's breaststroke by Qin Haiyang. We need to continue these consistent performances," Wang said.

On Friday, 24-year-old Qin made history by breaking the men's 200m breaststroke world record with a time of 2:05.48, earning himself the gold medal. Qin became the first swimmer in history to sweep all three gold medals in the men's 50m, 100m, and 200m breaststroke events in a single world championship. He also contributed to China's gold medal haul by teaming up with Xu Jiayu, Zhang Yufei, and Cheng Yujie to win the mixed 4x100m medley relay.

Zhang Yufei secured a gold medal in swimming with a time of 56.12 seconds in the 100m butterfly event.

In addition to the triumphs in swimming, China's artistic swimming team also made their mark, claiming three gold medals, including their first-ever mixed duet free gold.

China's diving squad had previously achieved remarkable success, bagging 12 gold, four silver, and three bronze medals in 13 diving events at the championships. 

"Despite losing one gold in diving, we are the undisputed leader in this sport. Making a clean sweep in diving is not necessarily good for the development of the sport. Technically, we need to focus on staying on top of the world," Wang noted.

Australia ranked second with a total of 15 gold medals, whileTeam USA secured a total of seven gold medals, ranking third at the medal tally. 

Previously, in a move that surprised some media outlets and online users, the US broadcaster NBC kept the US on top of the medal tally for the sixth day (July 29) of competition by calculating the total number of medals rather than the number of gold medals and excluding diving and artistic swimming events and presenting only the swimming results separately. As a result, despite having only secured three gold medals at that time, the US soared to the top of the displayed rankings. 

Braden Keith, a US sports journalist from the swimming news website SwimSwam, wrote on Twitter that, "Today, NBC and USA Swimming officially waived the white flag at the end of finals by changing their medals table graphic to a total medals sort."

The Australian news website news.com.au commented in an article titled "American broadcasters change World Championships medal tally to show America on top, despite less gold medals than Australia," stating, "The Americans have shown they can't handle losing." 

The Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, which commenced on July 14 and concluded on Sunday, saw a total of 22 female swimmers and 19 male swimmers representing China, competing in all 42 events.