Good-looking Liu Xiang of Guangdong proved she could swim faster in the women's 50m freestyle as she shattered the Asian record twice during the preliminary and semifinals from 24.32 to 24.04 at the 13th Chinese National Games on Wednesday.
Liu, who finished sixth in the FINA World Championships with 24.58, sprinted 24.32 to top the event in the morning heats. The previous Asian record of 24.48 was held by Ikee Rikako of Japan.
The 21-year-old Liu showed her speed in the semifinals and rewrote her own record with 24.04, which is the fifth fastest time in the world rankings.
"I was so happy that I improved my personal best for about half a second this time. In fact, I should swim better in Budapest but I did not. I hope I can be faster in the final," said the sprinter.
The 15-year-old Li Bingjie from Hebei snatcher her fourth gold medal at the Games with an easy victory in the women's 800m freestyle in 8:20.98, more than 5 seconds shy of her Asian record set in the Worlds where she took a silver medal behind Katie Ledecky of the United States.
Wang Jianjiahe of Liaoning finished second in 8:22.70, edging Zhang Yuhan of the Chinese Army at 8:22.83.
"I planned to better my personal best but I felt so tired after these days. I was not happy with the result but satisfied with my overall performance at the Games since it was my first National Games," said Li, who set two Asian records in the 400m and 1500m freestyle.
Li Zhukov claimed the title of the men's 100m butterfly in 51.96, followed by veteran Zhou Jiawei of Guangdong at 52.43 and Zhang Qibin of Shangdong 52.56.
Former world champion Ning Zetao won the men's 50m freestyle in 22.04 and Liu Yaxin of Zhejiang crowned in the women's 200m backstroke in 2:08.41.
The swimming competition, which attracted a total of 621 swimmers, will come to an end on Sept. 7.
