Fukuoka, Japan, July 29, 2023: China’s female swimmers produced three more medals for the team on the penultimate day of the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Saturday, July 29.
Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie won silver medals in the women’s 50m butterfly and 800m freestyle, respectively, while Peng Xuwei took bronze in the 200m backstroke.
Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, 29, claimed her fifth straight world women's 50m butterfly title in 24.77 seconds. Zhang, the 100m butterfly champion, finished second in an Asian record of 25.05 seconds. Gretchen Walsh of the United States won the bronze in 25.46.
"I’m satisfied with the result right now, but I’m still thinking of the possibility of winning the gold medal,” Zhang said.
“Sarah Sjostrom is my idol and I always think about getting closer to her, or even faster than her. That’s what we call a competitive athlete.
“I think my strength has increased, therefore my time has got better. I want to be the second active female athlete who can swim the 50m butterfly in under 25 seconds."
*Katie Ledecky of the United States won the women’s 800m freestyle for the sixth time in a time of in 8:08.87. Li Bingjie, 21, was second in an Asian record time of 8:13.31 and Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took bronze in 8:13.59.
Li said: "I wanted to get a good result for this competition because this is my last event of the world championships so I tried my best to get the best result."
*Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown of Australia completed her clean sweep of all three women's backstroke golds as she retained the 200m title Saturday in 2:03.85.
American Regan Smith, the 2019 world champion, finished second in 2:04.94. China's Peng Xuwei took bronze in 2:06.74.
*At the close of play on Saturday, China remained at the top of the medal table with 20 gold, seven silver and 10 bronze, ahead of Australia on 15-7-3, USA (4-18-15) and Japan (4-1-5).
Of China’s 20 gold medals, 12 came in diving, three in artistic swimming and five in swimming, including a 50-100-200m men’s breaststroke treble for Qin Haiyang.