Zhang Yufei (swimmer)

Zhang Yufei (Chinese: 张雨霏; pinyin: Zhāng Yǔfēi; born 19 April 1998) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle and butterfly events.[1] Considered one of the most promising swimmers in the international scene, she currently holds a world junior record in the 200 m butterfly, and also produced a tally of seven medals (three golds, two silver, and two bronze) in her swimming career, spanning the Youth Olympics, Asian Games, and the World Championships.

Zhang Yufei
Personal information
National team China
Born (1998-04-19) 19 April 1998
Xuzhou, China
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, butterfly
ClubJiangsu Swimming Team[1]
CoachJi Zhixiang[1]
In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Career

Born in Xuzhou, Zhang began swimming at the age of three partly because of the encouragement and influence of her mother, who acted as her personal coach.[1] Two years later, she started training professionally as a member of the Jiangsu Swimming Team, and eventually held numerous records for her age group. As more records followed, Zhang's rapid improvement culminated on her major debut in an international sporting event at the age of fourteen, when she beat 2008 Olympic champion Liu Zige for the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 2012 FINA World Cup meet in Beijing.[2]

Zhang's international debut came as a member of the host nation China at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, where she achieved a total of five medals: three golds and two silver. Zhang started off the competition with a powerful butterfly split of 58.56 in the girls' 4 × 100 m medley relay that tremendously helped her Chinese foursome break the junior world record (4:03.58) for the gold medal. On the same night, she managed a strong swim to take the silver in the 200 m butterfly with a time of 2:08.22, finishing farther behind Hungary's Liliána Szilágyi by less than two seconds.[3] In the girls' 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, Zhang posted a third leg split in 54.09 until her host nation's foursome celebrated again with another relay victory in 3:41.19.[4][5] On August 22, Zhang relegated to her second silver in the 100 m butterfly at 57.95, narrowly losing the race again to Szilagyi by almost three tenths of a second. Despite missing out her first individual gold, Zhang and her teammates Li Guangyuan, He Yun, and Yu Hexin powered their stretch to grab another relay title for the Chinese squad in the mixed 4 × 100 m medley (3:49.33).[6]

One month later, at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Zhang set a 54.10 split on the third leg to put the Chinese squad ahead to a marvelous victory in the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, with a time of 3:37.25.[7]

At the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Zhang swam her two finals on the fifth night of the competition with forty minutes in between. First, she lowered her own junior world record with 2:06.51 to take home her individual bronze in the 200 m butterfly.[8][9] Forty minutes later, Zhang set a third leg split of 1:58.73 to deliver the Chinese foursome a bronze medal in the women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay with a combined time of 7:49.10.[8]

On 22 Aug 2018, Zhang won the Women's 200m butterfly gold medal at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia with 2:06.61 .[10]

References
  1. "Zhang Yufei". Incheon 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  2. Liu, Weiguo (6 November 2012). "Teenage Swimmer Defeats Olympic Champion". All-China Women's Federation. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. "Youth Olympic Games: Liliana Szilagyi Vaults to 3rd in World in 200 Fly". Swimming World Magazine. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  4. "Youth Olympic Games: Sprints Take Center Stage on Fight Night". Swimming World Magazine. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  5. "YOG: China adds two swimming gold medals". Xinhua. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  6. "Youth Olympic Games: World Junior Record Bonanza on Final Night". Swimming World Magazine. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  7. "Japanese Men Turn In Fabulous Night of Swimming at Asian Games". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  8. "Roundup: Chinese swimming shows strength at Kazan worlds". China Internet Information Center. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  9. "Natsumi Hoshi Captures 200 Fly World Title at 2015 FINA World Championships". Swimming World Magazine. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  10. "Zhang Yufei wins 200m butterfly at Asian Games". Xinhuanet News. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 27 Aug 2018.
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