Sun Yang makes waves as he sets new swimming record

Sun Yang of China set a new championship record in the 400 meters freestyle when he outperformed compatriot Hao Yun by 12 seconds to pick up his second gold medal at the ninth Asian Swimming Championships, Sports 360 online reported Saturday.

Four-time Olympic medalist Yang also set a new championship record in the 200m freestyle and is now on course for a hat-trick when he competes in the 1,500 meter Freestyle on Nov.17.

In the 400 meter Freestyle, Yang, who is amongst the leading names in the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai, left all competition in his wake touching home a healthy 12 seconds ahead of Yun , who claimed second position with 3 meters in 54.34 seconds ; while Japan’s Takumi Komatsu completed the podium in third place 3 meters in 54.59 seconds.

Chinese women also dominated the pool, with Pang Jiaying picking up gold in the 200 meter Freestyle ahead of compatriot Tang Yi.

Bronze medalist, Jiaying at the Beijing 2008 event, clocked 1:59.77, almost a second ahead of Yi, who was stretching to win a fourth gold during the events, having only won two on the open night and a third in the 50 meter Freestyle.

Despite her failure to achieve a fourth gold, Yi, who had won the 100 meter Freestyle bronze at the London Games, said: “Dubai is a very special place for me.”

"There are so many Chinese people in the stands supporting me, I feel like I’m in China not (in) the UAE. I hope I can keep this up in my last few races.”

Jiaying, 28, showed that experience makes a difference in the pool, although she claimed that she was not expecting to win the title for gold.

“This is a nice surprise to me,” said Jiaying, who is the Asian record holder in the 200 meter Freestyle. “I thought Tang was going to win, but I’m very happy with my race.”

Chinese team spokesman Lu Yifan said the initiative to aim on youth at the event was paying dividends and as guide for their upcoming training.
“Our big focus here is on the young ones since the experienced ones haven’t raced since London and aren’t really prepared. We want to give our young swimmers the experience in controlling their performances,” he said.

And on the standout performances, Lu said that Pang keeps getting stronger with her performances.

“Sun Yang’s performance is good considering he hasn’t been training much and we’re particularly happy with Zhang Fenglin’s performance,” who set a championship record in the 200 meter backstroke, he added.

Japan’s Kazuki Kohinata is the only non-Chinese to gain gold at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex on Friday night as he touched the wall in the 100 meter breaststroke.

The Chinese also imprinted their authority in the pool in other disciplines, with Huang Xuechen gripping gold in the Solo Technical Routine event in synchronized swimming.