US swimmers dominate while China fosters next generation at world championships in Budapest
US athletes win four golds on opening day of competition, but 13-year-old Zhou Yanjun hints at bright future for Chinese programme
The United States dominated proceedings on the first day of the World Aquatics Swimming Championships, picking up four gold medals and one silver, while none of their Chinese rivals competed in any of Tuesday night’s finals.
China opted to leave Olympic champions such as Pan Zhanle, Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun at home and use the competition in Budapest to blood a new generation of stars.
And while most of the big guns miss the event that runs until Sunday, the youngsters that have shown up are impressing in the pool. The 13-year-old Zhou Yanjun swam the women’s 200m individual medley heats with a time of 2:11.51, ranking 22nd out of 35 athletes. She was the youngest competitor in the event and beat four athletes more than twice her age.
There are still some superstars in the Chinese ranks, including Olympic champions Qin Haiyang and Tang Qianting, who both race in the men’s and women’s 100m breaststroke, respectively, on Wednesday.
The US team on the other hand boasts 20 Olympic gold medallists and world champion athletes at the Duna Arena, and they knocked down five of the seven world records that fell on the opening day.
“I was pretty happy with my swim this morning, but it hurt more than I would have liked,” Kate Douglass said after picking up the USA’s first medal of the night and setting a world record in the women’s 200 metres individual medley.
