Liu Yaxin Puts Up 1:54.96 200 Free To Become China’s 3rd-Best Ever

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SPRING SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, March 18th – Sunday, March 23rd
• Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
• LCM (50m)
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap
• Results via Asian media

The 2025 Chinese National Spring Swimming Championships wrapped up from Qingdao, giving us a glimpse into the types of performances we may expect at May’s World Championship Trials.

We reported how Wan Letian cranked out a big-time performance of 27.09 to win the women’s 50m backstroke to become the 4th-best performer in history.

• Wan Letian Puts Up 27.09 50 Backstroke in China, #4 All Time

The women’s 200m free saw Liu Yaxin fire off an in-season swim of 1:54.96 to beat the field by nearly 2 seconds.

The 25-year-old’s nearest competitor was Yang Peiqi who touched in 1:56.90 followed by Yu Yiting who captured bronze in 1:57.03.

Liu’s time represented a monster personal best, erasing her previous career-swiftest performance of 1:56.18 put on the books in 2023.

She now checks in as China’s 3rd-fastest female in history as well as the #1 performer in the world this season.

Top 5 Chinese Women’s LCM 200 Free Performers

1. Tang Muhan – 1:54.26, 2021
2. Yang Junxuan – 1:54.37, 2021
3. Liu Yaxin – 1:54.96, 2025
4. Pang Jiaying – 1:55.05, 2008
5. Shen Duo – 1:55.25, 2016

Race video courtesy of @swimcoverage

全国春季游泳锦标赛
女子200Fr
柳雅欣 1:54.96
杨佩琪 1:56.90
余依婷 1:57.03

Liu Yaxinが1:55秒切りで歴代3位！
Yang Peiqi, Yu YitingもPB更新！ pic.twitter.com/dxvJ90VpjB

— 競泳NEWS (@swimcoverage) March 23, 2025

Additional Notes

• Olympic champion Ye Shiwen grabbed gold in the women’s 100m breast in 1:07.81 to eke out the victory ahead of Kong Shuya who settled for silver in 1:07.98.
• The men’s 50m free saw He Junyi top the podium in 22.01. Shen Jiahuo clocked 22.35 as the silver medalist.
• Wang Yichun registered 57.38 as the top women’s 100m butterflier. Yu was in this race as well, snagging silver in 57.42 while Gong Zhenqi rounded out the podium in 57.83. Zhang Yufei, who claimed 6 medals in Paris last year, hit 58.21 in the contest.

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