SZU swimmers deliver 11 golds at Asian Games

China's swimming team closed out the Asian Games on Friday with 30 gold medals, its best-ever performance at the continental showcase, and a group of athletes from Shenzhen University (SZU) accounted for more than a third of them.

Nine current students from SZU won 11 golds, two silvers and two bronzes for China across the six-day meet at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan.

(From left) Chinese swimmers Peng Xuwei, Tang Qianting, Zhang Yufei and Yu Yiting pose for a photo on Friday after winning the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan. Xinhua

Backstroker Peng Xuwei, a graduate student in physical education, delivered the standout performance. She won the women’s 200-meter backstroke on Sept. 22 in 2:05.77, breaking a 16-year-old Asian record. A day later she added the 100 backstroke title for a sweep of the events.

Peng swam the leadoff leg of China’s winning women’s 4x100 medley relay on the final day, helping the team finish in 3:54.55 for a games record and China’s first gold in the event in 16 years.

Breaststroker Dong Zhihao, an undergraduate in sports training, also claimed three golds. He tied for victory in the men’s 100 breaststroke in 58.64, then swam on China’s winning men’s and mixed 4x100 medley relay teams, topping the podium in all three of his events.

Wu Qingfeng won the women’s 50 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay and took silver in the 50 butterfly. Wang Haoyu won the men’s 4x200 and 4x100 freestyle relays. Li Jiaping, Cheng Yujie, Liu Yaxin and Jiang Chenglin also contributed relay golds, with Li taking silver and Liu bronze in the 200 freestyle and Cheng earning bronze in the 100 freestyle.

China’s 30 golds in the pool surpassed its total from the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The nine SZU swimmers represent majors including sports training, education, and physical education.