The oldest swimmer was 34, and the youngest was 11. Zhang Jingyan competed in nine different events, while Gong Zhenqi swam 18 times during the Games. Li Bingjie was the most frequent finalist, appearing in seven finals. Zhang Zhanshuo dominated the individual medal standings with five golds, Xu Jiayu and Li Bingjie tied with four golds each, and Yu Zidi and Wang Shun tied with three golds each.

Compared to women's swimmers, who reached most events of the 2028 Olympic A standard except the 200m breaststroke, only five male swimmers qualified for the A cut in six events.

13-Year-Old Yu Zidi: Calm as Still Water

"Two minutes 7.41 seconds."

The announcement echoed across the pool, but the girl who had just touched the wall first in the women's 200m individual medley (IM) barely registered the result.13-year-old Yu Zidi stared blankly at the scoreboard, still catching her breath—she had no clue she had just rewritten history.

"I was squinting at the screen, trying to find out my time, when the words' Asian record' followed by my name boomed over the loudspeaker," Yu recalled a few days later, her voice still carrying a hint of disbelief." My first thought was, 'Who did that?' Then it hit me—I broke the Asian record. I didn't dare believe it until Yu Yiting, who was in the next lane, swam over to hug me and say congratulations."

"She told me, 'You're incredible,' and that's when I couldn't hold back the tears," she said." I wasn't sad or anything—just a flood of emotions I couldn't put into words. It all felt so surreal."

Ye Shiwen set the previous Asian record at the 2012 London Olympics, when Ye was 16, three months before Yu Zidi was born. Yu turned 13 last October.

Ye also offered her congratulations: "Records are meant to be broken. I'm happy for her to start her own era. It's exciting to see such strong new forces emerging in Chinese swimming."

Yu became the youngest champion swimmer in the National Games' history. Her new Asian mark would have earned her a silver medal at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore and currently ranks second in the world, behind Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh.

"I learned a lot from the Singapore Worlds," said Yu, who finished fourth in three events, the 200m IM,200m butterfly, and 400m IM, all in personal best times. She was .06, .31- and .5-seconds shy of the podium in those three events, respectively.

"It was more intense than I expected, and the warm-up pool was always packed. I realised the gap between me and the other swimmers, and I want to learn from Summer McIntosh's turns."

Yu's efforts paid off, especially in the 200m IM, where she refined her turns and improved her breaststroke.

"I worked a lot on my breaststroke after I returned home from Singapore, and that helped me to better my personal best. But overall, breaststroke is still my weakest stroke, and I need to keep working hard on it."

Later, Yu competed in the 200m butterfly, finishing second to 19-year-old Chen Luying with a time of 2:06.57. She claimed the 400m IM title in 4:34.33, edging out two 14-year-old rivals—Chang Mohan(4:34.59)and Ke Wenxi(4:36.00).

Yu also secured gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay with her Hebei teammates. "I'm really thankful to the elder sisters who trusted me in the relays," she said." Compared with individual events, relays make me more excited."

As she became the focus of public attention, Yu kept a low profile." I don't fully understand what everyone is talking about. I don't care about statistics or records. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I just go all out and give everything I have in the pool. A quiet pool with a few lane lines—that's the ideal place for me to concentrate on swimming," Yu said.

Zhang Zhanshuo: A Rising Star with Five Titles, Four Records

Every time he surged to the wall, he lifted a finger to count his victories, striking exaggerated poses with dramatic gestures and facial expressions to solicit applause and cheers from the audience.

18-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo did just that five times at the Chinese National Games, emerging as the most decorated swimmer in the pool.

He claimed five individual titles, highlighted by a world junior record of 3:42.82 in the 400m freestyle, and three national junior records—1:44.86 in the 200m freestyle, 3:42.82 in the 400m freestyle, and 7:46.69 in the 800m freestyle. He also helped Shandong's team win the men's 4x200m freestyle relay title.

But those were just his exuberant celebrations in the water. Once out of the pool, he turned calm and low-key. "I'm part of the new generation, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself," Zhang said. "I still have a long way to go to reach the national record and the world's top level."

Born in 2007, Zhang represented China at the 2024 Doha World Championships, winning gold in the men's 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays, and silver in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay at the Singapore World Championships. He was also part of China's 4x200m freestyle relay team that finished fourth at the Paris Olympic Games.

His showdown with Pan Zhanle, Olympic champion in the 100m freestyle, was dubbed the "battle of the 'Zhan Generation', a nod to the shared Chinese character "Zhan" in both their names, which means "to stretch and extend." Zhang outperformed Pan twice, in the 400m and 200m freestyle.

"For me,' Zhan’ means fulfilling my ambitions and dreams," Zhang said of the name character shared with Pan. "Pan and I aren't rivals; he's my idol. He encouraged me before the race, and I cherished the chance to compete alongside him. His strength lies in the 100m freestyle."

"Looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, I need to meet the A standard in more events," added the freshman at Fudan University's Journalism School. "The National Games are just a national-level competition. I will keep strengthening myself to become a top international swimmer."

Pan Zhanle: A Champion Resetting After Paris

Pan Zhanle collected one gold and two bronze medals in his individual events at the National Games, while also anchoring the relay teams to two golds and one silver.

As for the results, he was far from satisfied. Pan competed in four individual events, finishing fifth in the 400m freestyle in 3:48.93 and taking bronze in both the 50m freestyle (22.21) and the 200m freestyle (1:46.37).

When asked to comment on competing against the 18-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo in the 400m freestyle performance, Pan responded, "Do you think I'm in a position to comment on that? I'm a 100-meter swimmer."

In the 100m freestyle, the world record holder clocked 48.01 to claim the title, completing a sweep of major championships across the Olympic Games, Asian Games, World Championships, and the National Games. It was Pan's first National Games gold in the event, and while he had every reason to feel proud, the time did not excite him—it was far off his world record of 46.40 set in Paris last year.

"I've recovered only about half of my peak form. The results reflect my training. The winning time in the 100m wasn't competitive at the world level, nor did it meet the 2028 Olympic A standard," Pan admitted.

"Sometimes I wish I could completely shut out the outside world and just focus on training every single day. The ups and downs after the Paris Olympics have taught me a lesson, like a required course. I need to learn how to adjust my rhythm under the spotlight, rebuild confidence after setbacks, and rediscover my strengths in the water."

"After experiencing wins and losses at the National Games, I feel like I've become even more passionate about swimming. Stay grounded, take time to grow, and keep striving," the 21-year-old said.

Pan later posted a series of photos on social media, mostly group shots. One picture showed 18 mascot dolls neatly arranged on a bed, accompanied by the caption: "Hope you all stay healthy and have a wonderful time. See you next time."

Qin Haiyang—Bittersweet Moment for the Breaststroke King

As the reigning world champion in men's breaststroke, Qin Haiyang experienced a bittersweet National Games. He claimed victories in the 100m and 200m breaststroke but was disqualified in the 50m for an illegal underwater kick after the start.

Qin celebrated a hat-trick of victories in the 200m breaststroke since 2017, winning in 2:07.69—close to his champion time 2:07.41 from the Singapore worlds. His 58.98 in the 100m was 0.75 seconds off his triumph time in Singapore, but it was his first time to win the event at the National Games.

"I would give myself 60 out of 100—just barely a pass. I had injuries and didn't train as systematically as before. I'm still trying to find a better solution to address the problems. But since it is my first time to win the 100m race, the most important thing is winning a gold medal for my team, Shanghai," Qin said.

The 50m breaststroke, one of the six newly added 50m events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, made its National Games debut. Qin had been widely considered the top favourite but was disqualified after finishing the race. Shanghai's Zheng Yinghao won the gold with a personal best of 26.97 seconds, while Hubei veterans Yan Zibei and Sun Jiajun took silver and bronze.

"Anything can happen in competition. I made a mistake at the start because I didn't keep my hands together during the entry. I thought I might be disqualified as soon as I entered the water," Qin explained.

The referees later ruled that he was disqualified for performing two butterfly kicks after the start.

"Maybe I focused too much on my hands and disrupted my stroke rhythm. There are always challenges in competition, but overall, I'm pleased with my performance. Compared with last year, I've made progress in both technique and mentality; I'm more mature and more relaxed now. I'll keep pushing forward and refining myself," said the 26-year-old.

Zhang Yufei: Fighting on With a New Olympic Dream

Zhang Yufei made a strong comeback by sweeping victories in the women's 50m butterfly, 25.61, and the 100m butterfly in 56.24 at her fourth National Games.

"I may have some natural talents in sprint events like the 50m and 100m distances, but I'm still not fully recovered to my peak form," said the 27-year-old.

Zhang also claimed a bronze in the 200m butterfly in 2:07.90 and tied for fifth in the 50m freestyle with 24.93. She helped her hometown team, Jiangsu, secure silver in the mixed medley relay and bronze in the women's 4x100m medley relay.

"I could fight all the way to the end again, and I'm quite pleased with that. It also shows that the past two months of training have really paid off, and my endurance has improved. Now I can race from the first day to the last, instead of running out of steam after the first two days like I did at the World Championships," said the multiple Olympic and world champion.

After the Paris Olympic Games, Zhang took an extended break and did not resume training until last March, when she watched the National Spring Championships in Qingdao.

"When I watched my teammates compete, I realised I still had the passion for swimming. I talked with my coaches about the possibility of returning. Then I got back in the water and qualified for the Singapore Worlds, where I won a silver and a bronze," she said.

"Given that my preparation at this stage hasn't been fully adequate, I'm very happy to swim these times at the National Games. But my results are still not competitive at the international level."

Zhang revealed that she will focus on the 50m and 100m events rather than the 200m butterfly, the event that brought her first Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games. But this time, she finished third in 2:07.90 after Chen Luying, 2:05.45 and Yu Zidi, 2:06.57.

"To be honest, I had a fear of swimming 200m butterfly. I even considered withdrawing from the event while in the call room. I want to concentrate on the shorter distances in the future.

"I am 27, no one is young forever, but there will always be young souls ready to continue the new chapter," Zhang added. "If I could reach the Olympic stage at the age of 30, it would be a remarkable success."