Chinese swimmers break Asian, national records within 5 minutes at National Games

Two swimming records were broken within five minutes to the applauding audience at the 14th Chinese National Games here on Sunday evening.

Yu Hexin of Guangdong broke his own national record to claim the men's 50m freestyle title in 21.68 seconds, before teammate Liu Xiang touched home first in the women's 50m freestyle in 23.97 seconds, refreshing her own Asian record of 24.03 seconds and defeating double Olympic gold medalist Zhang Yufei of Jiangsu en route to the gold.

"The new record is a surprise to me. I didn't think about the result before the event. I kept telling myself that the result wasn't important," said Liu in tears.

"I'd like to thank my coach for accompanying me like a family member all through my journey in swimming," the 25-year-old Liu added. "The result is a recognition and reward for my years of hard work."