Olympic champion Ye Shiwen wins another swimming race

Zhengzhou (China), April 7 (IANS):

China’s Ye Shiwen continued her winning run at the Swimming National Championships as she topped the 200 metres backstroke here Sunday.

Ye, 17, winner of the 200m and 400m individual medley at the London Olympics, took part in multiple events at the National Championships and claimed the 200m free and 200m medley titles in the previous races, Xinhua reports.

Ye trailed her Zhejiang teammate Fu Yuanhui in the first 100m and made a strong sprint after the 150m turn to win the race in 2:09.12. Fu came second in 2:10.01, while Bai Anqi, also from Zhejiang, was third in 2:11.76.

“I expected a better time according to my performance in the semifinal,” said Ye, who topped the semifinals Saturday. “But to win is good.”

Although she won the 200m back, Ye said she had no intention to take it as her major event.

“I’ve never thought about it and I already have the 200m and 400m medley,” she said.