Wang Shun breaks Asian record in men's 400m individual medley

The 17-year-old Wang Shun shocked himself to set a new Asian record in the men's 400m individual medley at the Chinese Swimming Championships here on Thursday. Wang led the way through the first 200m but came to second after the breaststroke behind Huang Chaosheng. However, Wang surged back in the freestyle, clocking in four minutes 11.61 seconds in a new Asian record time. His result could be ranked No. 4 in the current FINA world rankings. The previous Asian and national record was held by Wang Chengxiang of Shandong in 4:11.89 set in April this year. Huang Chaosheng and Yang Zhixian gave Hunan a 2-3 finish as they touched the wall in 4:12. 54 and 4:13.77, respectively. Former national and Asian record holder Wang Chengxiang came to fourth in 4:13.99. "I didn't expect to break the record before the meet. I just want to improve my personal best," said Wang, who is under the same coach Zhu Zhigen together with newly-crowned world champion Sun Yang and Shao Yiwen, who later claimed victory in the women's 800m freestyle in 8:24.78. Li Xuanxu of Hunan and Bi Rirong of Zhejiang came to second and third n 8:25.18 and 8:34.09. "I am not in a good shape since I had a rest after the Shanghai worlds. It was very hard to swim the 800 especially the last 300m," Shao said. Tang Yi of Shanghai claimed victory in the women's 100m freestyle in 54.54, Lu Ying of Shanghai splashed in the women's 50m butterfly in 25.99. Shi Tengfei of Beijing snatched the men's 50m freestyle title in 22.66 and Zhejiang team won the men's 4x200m freestyle in 7:21.25. The six-day national swimming championships will come to an end on Sept. 26 with 38 golds on offer.