Xu Jiayu breaks national record in men's 50m backstroke at China's 15th National Games

GUANGZHOU, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Xu Jiayu of Zhejiang broke his own national record in the men's 50m backstroke at China's 15th National Games here on Sunday, clocking 24.36 seconds in the semifinals.

"It's only 0.02 seconds faster than my previous record, but it's a real confidence boost and will help me in the races ahead," Xu said.

In the women's 50m butterfly final, Zhang Yufei of Jiangsu claimed her second gold of the meet, touching in 25.61 seconds. Zhejiang's Wu Qingfeng and Yu Yiting took silver and bronze respectively.

Competing almost daily since the start of the swimming program, Zhang said she felt strong despite the heavy schedule.

"I've fought all the way to the end. The past two months of training really paid off," she said. "For my current condition and training load, this is the best I could swim, and it shows the progress I've made."

Peng Xuwei of Hubei won the women's 200m backstroke in 2:07.74, followed by Zhejiang's Liu Yaxin and Tianjin's Yang Nuoxi.

Peng, who secured her second gold of the Games, said she felt relieved after overcoming doubts from the previous day.

"I made some mistakes in the semifinal and questioned myself, but I made adjustments this morning and trusted my preparation," she said.

In other events, Wang Changhao of Tianjin took the men's 100m butterfly title in 51.40 seconds. Hong Kong's Ian Ho Yen-tou claimed the men's 50m freestyle gold in 21.71, while Liaoning's Chen Hao finished second and Liu Wudi of Fujian tied with Zhejiang's Pan Zhanle for bronze.

Li Bingjie of Hebei dominated the women's 800m freestyle in 8:19.00, with Zhejiang's Mao Yihan and Hebei's Gao Weizhong finishing second and third. Enditem