Top Chinese butterflyers yet to peak before Olympics
2/4/2008 16:51
Two of China's top butterflyers Wu Peng and Jiao Liuyang could and also
need to swim faster at the Olympics.
In the final of the men's 200 meters
butterfly at the Olympic trials today, Wu touched the wall first in 1:55.19
seconds, but failed in his own bid to break the Asian record of 1:54.56 set by
Japanese veteran swimmer Takashi Yamamoto.
"It was the best I could do today,
and it was not a very regrettable result," Wu said.
"I felt I was losing
strength, especially towards the end. I used up too much strength in last
night's heat," he said.
In yesterday's heat, Wu finished in 1:54.82 seconds,
bettering his own national record by 0.09 seconds. The score could place him
fifth in the event's world ranking this year.
Less than five months to the
Olympics, Wu said he has been keeping eyes on his competitors and also gearing
himself up for the Games.
"The swimmers were really fast in the European
championships, and the American swimmers have not yet come out to swim the
Olympic trials this year, " he said.
"The winter training helped me restore
my strength, but there is no major breakthrough or marked improvement in results
yet," Wu said.
"No doubt that there is still room for betterment for me. I'll
have to work with my coach, and head to the plateau around May for training," he
added.
In last year's Melbourne World Championships, Wu was second only to
American phenom Michael Phelps, who keeps the event's world record at 1:52.09.
The 21-year-old Wu is one of Chinese swimming squad's best hopes to anchor a
medal at the Olympics.
"There is still like a gulf between me and Phelps, but
I will do my best to bridge the gap," he said.
In the event's final, Wu's
teammate Chen Yin, the eighth at the 2007 Melbourne World Championship, placed
second with 1:55.62.
In todays events, another Chinese butterflyer Jiao
Liuyang, who stood fifth in last year's world ranking, was edged to the second
in the women's 200 meters butterfly, by Liu Zige, who achieved her personal best
clocking 2:07.76.
"I was in my best state last year, but it's been a downturn
since the winter training. The plateau training in winter did not really pay
off, " Jiao said.
"I have to regroup myself before the Olympics. My 200
butterfly was already better than the 100," Jiao said.
The 17-year-old girl
slipped to the seventh in Monday's 100 fly final, finishing in 1:00.03, nearly
two seconds away from Xu Yanwei's champion result of 58.68 seconds.
Jiao
accomplished her personal best of 2:07.06 in the 200m fly at a swim meet in
Japan last year. She placed fourth in the event's final at the Melbourne World
Championships.
Xinhua
|
