China Shines with Medals at World Aquatics Championships as Leon Marchand Sets World Record

On Wednesday at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, China strengthened its medal count by adding two silver and two bronze medals. French swimmer Leon Marchand made headlines by establishing a new world record in the men's 200m individual medley during the semifinals.

In the mixed 4×100m medley relay, China's team, consisting of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, and Wu Qingfeng, finished with a time of 3:39.99 to secure the silver medal. They were narrowly beaten by Neutral Athletes B (NAB), who set a new record of 3:37.97 to claim gold, while Canada took home the bronze. Notably, the USA was unable to qualify for the final, marking a significant upset.

In the women’s 200m freestyle final, China's Li Bingjie demonstrated impressive resilience, overcoming challenges in the final stretch to win silver in 1:54.52. Australian swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan won gold, and the USA's Claire Weinstein rounded out the podium with a bronze. Li expressed her satisfaction with her performance, noting that she had improved her personal best by over a second and looked forward to competing in the 800m freestyle.

The men's 50m breaststroke final saw Qin Haiyang, who had previously won the 100m event, achieve a bronze finish in 26.67 seconds. Italy's Simone Cerasuolo clinched the gold while neutral athlete Kirill Prigoda took home silver. In the men's 100m freestyle semifinals, China's Pan Zhanle finished third in his heat but ultimately did not advance to the final as faster times were recorded in the other heat.

Additional events included the men’s 200m butterfly final, where China's Chen Juner finished seventh, while the gold went to Luca Urlando of the USA. In the men's 800m freestyle, Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi won gold with a time of 7:36.88.

Marchand's impressive feat of breaking the world record for the men's 200m individual medley, with a time of 1:52.69, surpassed the previous record of 1:54.00 set by Ryan Lochte in 2011. Notably, Wang Shun from China qualified for the final with the seventh-fastest time.

In other semifinals, Wan Letian placed fourth to secure a spot in the women’s 50m backstroke final, while young swimmer Yu Zidi, at only 12 years old, advanced to the women’s 200m butterfly final. Despite finishing sixth in her semifinal heat, Yu's overall placement was enough to qualify her for the final taking place on Thursday.

In diving, Italy's Chiara Pellacani and Matteo Santoro excelled in the mixed 3m synchronized springboard event, winning gold with a total score of 308.13 points, just ahead of Australia's Cassiel Rousseau and Maddison Keeney who claimed silver. Meanwhile, China's Chen Yuxi and Xie Peiling made their mark by advancing to the women's 10m platform final, both securing first and second places in the preliminaries. That final is also scheduled for Thursday.