World Aquatics Championships: back-to-back China golds as Qin Haiyang becomes 2nd fastest in history and Zhang Yufei avenges Tokyo
- Qin’s time puts him second only to Britain’s Adam Peaty, while Zhang beats Canada’s China-born Maggie Mac Neil in a reverse of Tokyo Olympics
- Hong Kong’s Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey poised for her first individual event on Tuesday in the 200m freestyle heats
China claimed gold in consecutive races at the World Aquatics Championships on Monday evening as Qin Haiyang won the men’s 100m breaststroke and Zhang Yufei the women’s 100m butterfly.
Qin’s winning time of 57.69 seconds on day two of pool events in Fukuoka made him the second fastest in history, albeit some way off the 56.88 world record of Britain’s Adam Peaty.
“That is a pretty good time,” Qin said. “That is my best time. But I can do better. I will catch up to the world record.”
Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands and the United States’ Nic Fink were all awarded silver, each clocking 58.72.
“This is my first gold medal at the world championships,” said Zhang, who owns seven previous bronzes. “This is my happy time. I just feel wonderful and amazing.”
