Qin Haiyang (Chinese:覃海洋, born 17 May 1999) is a Chinese swimmer who specializes in the breaststroke and individual medley. He holds theworld record in the200m breaststroke, which he set at the2023 World Aquatics Championships.[1] At the same competition, Qin became the first swimmer in history to win all three breaststroke events at a single edition of the championships.[2] Qin was also the former world junior record holder in the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley.[3] In 2023, Qin became the first Asian swimmer to be named as theMale Swimmer of the Year byWorld Aquatics.[4]
At his first major international competition, the2018 Asian Games, he participated in the 4x100 metre medley relay and won gold.
Later in December, he competed in the2018 World Championships, where he won the silver medal in the 200 metre Breaststroke.
Then, in 2019, he won three silver medals and one bronze at theMilitary World Games.[5]
He qualified for the2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 200m breaststroke and finished first in his 200m breaststroke heat, but was disqualified for making an illegal kick after a turn, in what he called a "stupid mistake".[6]
Since 2022, Qin started to train under Cui Dengrong, who also coached2020 Olympic Games championZhang Yufei. Under Cui's coaching, Qin saw large improvements.[7]
At the2023 World Aquatics Championships, Qin became the first man in history to win gold in all three breaststroke events at a single edition of the championship.[8] With a time of 2:05.48, he broke the world record in 200m breaststroke, which was previously established by2020 Olympic Games championZac Stubblety-Cook in 2022. Qin also set new Asian records in 50m and 100m breaststroke respectively.
In the2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (held in 2023 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic), Qin again won all three individual breaststroke events.[9] He also won the silver medal in the 200m individual medley.[10] In the men's4 × 100 m medley relay, the Chinese team ofXu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang,Wang Changhao, andPan Zhanle broke the Asian record by finishing in 3:27.01.[11] This was also the second-fastest in history, just 0.23 behind Team USA's world record time in the2020 Olympic Games. The Chinese team of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, andYang Junxuan also set the new Asian record in the mixed4 × 100 m medley relay.[12] With his teammate Zhang Yufei, Qin Haiyang was named the MVP of 2022 Asian Games for his five gold medals.[13]
Afterwards, at the2023 Swimming World Cup, Qin won gold in all three breaststroke events (50m, 100m, and 200m) at all three World Cup legs, held in Berlin, Athens and Budapest. Qin was consequently named as the winner of the World Cup title due to his performances at all three legs.[14]
While at the2024 Paris Olympics, Qin Haiyang lamented that;
The (drug) tests come early in the morning before we’re even awake, during midday rest periods, forcing us to rest on hotel lobby sofas, and even late at night, keeping us up past midnight[15]
And after a poor start to Qin's marquee individual breaststroke events where he failed to medal,[16][17] Qin would later bounce-back to swim the fastest split-times in the finals of his breastroke legs in the team events; 57.82 and 57.98 in theMixed4 × 100 m Medley Relay and theMen's4 × 100 m Medley Relay to secure Silver and Gold medals respectively, and handing the United States swim team its first defeat in the latter-event since it was first-introduced into the Olympic program in the1960 Rome Olympics.[18][19][20]
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 26.20 | 2023 World Championships | 25 July 2023 | AS,NR |
| 100 m breaststroke | 57.69 | 2023 World Championships | 24 July 2023 | AS,NR |
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:05.48 | 2023 World Championships | 28 July 2023 | WR,AS,NR |
| 200 m individual medley | 1:56.79 | 2019 Military World Games | 20 October 2019 | |
| 400 m individual medley | 4:10.41 | 2019 Military World Games | 21 October 2019 |
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 25.38 | 2024 Swimming World Cup | 19 October 2024 | AS,NR |
| 100 m breaststroke | 55.47 | 2024 World Short Course Championships | 12 December 2024 | AS,NR |
| 200 m breaststroke | 2.01.15 | 2018 World Short Course Championships | 13 December 2018 | NR, FormerAS |
| 100 m individual medley | 57.18 | 2017 Swimming World Cup | 11 November 2017 | |
| 200 m individual medley | 1.54.51 | 2022 Chinese National Championships (25m) | 28 October 2022 |
Key: NR = National Record; AS = Asian Record; WR = World Record
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Age | Type | Status | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 m individual medley | 1:57.54 | 2017 Chinese National Championships | Qingdao,China | 14 April 2017 | 17 | WJ (not ratified) | Former | [22] | |
| 2 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:08.71 | 2017 Chinese National Championships | Qingdao,China | 15 April 2017 | 17 | WJ (not ratified),NR | Former | [23] | |
| 3 | 200 m individual medley | 1:59.01 | h | 2017 World Aquatics Championships | Budapest,Hungary | 26 July 2017 | 18 | WJ | Former | [24] |
| 4 | 200 m individual medley | 1:57.981 | sf | 2017 World Aquatics Championships | Budapest,Hungary | 26 July 2017 | 18 | WJ | Former | [25] |
| 5 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:09.39 | h | 2017 World Aquatics Championships | Budapest,Hungary | 27 July 2017 | 18 | WJ | Former | [26] |
| 6 | 200 m individual medley | 1:57.06 | 2017 World Aquatics Championships | Budapest,Hungary | 27 July 2017 | 18 | WJ | Former | [27] | |
| 7 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:07.35 | 2017 National Games of China | Tianjin,China | 4 September 2017 | 18 | WJ (not ratified),NR | Former | [28] | |
| 8 | 50 m breaststroke | 26.63 | 2023 Chinese Spring Championships | Qingdao,China | 24 March 2023 | 23 | AS | Former | [29] | |
| 9 | 100 m breaststroke | 57.93 | 2023 Chinese Championships | Hangzhou,China | 2 May 2023 | 23 | AS | Former | [30] | |
| 10 | 100 m breaststroke | 57.69 | 2023 World Championships | Fukuoka,Japan | 24 July 2023 | 24 | AS | Current | [31] | |
| 11 | 50 m breaststroke | 26.34 | h | 2023 World Championships | Fukuoka,Japan | 25 July 2023 | 24 | AS | Former | [32] |
| 12 | 50 m breaststroke | 26.20 | sf | 2023 World Championships | Fukuoka,Japan | 25 July 2023 | 24 | AS | Current | [33] |
| 13 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:05.48 | 2023 World Championships | Fukuoka,Japan | 28 July 2023 | 24 | WR | Current | [34] | |
| 14 | 100 m breaststroke | 57.69 | 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup | Berlin,Germany | 6 October 2023 | 24 | =AS | Current | [35] |
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Age | Type | Status | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:04.18 | 2017 Swimming World Cup | Beijing,China | 10 November 2017 | 18 | NR | Former | [36] | |
| 2 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:01.64 | h | 2018 World Short Course Championships | Hangzhou,China | 13 December 2018 | 19 | NR | Former | [37] |
| 3 | 200 m breaststroke | 2:01.15 | 2018 World Short Course Championships | Hangzhou,China | 13 December 2018 | 19 | AS | Former | [38] | |
| 4 | 100 m breaststroke | 56.31 | 2022 Chinese National Championships (25m) | Beijing,China | 27 October 2022 | 23 | NR | Current | [39] |
Key: NR = National Record; AS = Asian Record; WJ = World Junior Record; WR = World Record; h = heats; sf = semifinal
He (Qin) continued, "The tests come early in the morning before we're even awake, during midday rest periods, forcing us to rest on hotel lobby sofas, and even late at night, keeping us up past midnight."
There was speculation Stubblety-Cook might protest if Qin won a gold medal at these Games, but that won't happen now... One suspects Stubblety-Cook was pleased to see Qin miss the final... was asked if he was surprised that Qin missed making the final. "No comment," said Stubblety-Cook with a big grin, before walking off.
... the only person capable of beating Marchand is Qin Haiyang, the world-record holder in the event, provided he can bounce back from a disastrous Olympics
Dressel, speaking on behalf of his team, said, "For Team USA, the expectation is [winning] gold. That's traditionally what we strive for... It came down to the wire. [China] had four great splits. We had four great splits. But they were faster. It's as simple as that." Murphy shared Dressel's sentiment, saying, "Today, China was just a little bit better... "It is hard to get separation in that race. It was really tight all the way through. Hats off to China, they had a great race tonight."
The USA lost to China in the men's 4x100m medley relay at the Paris Olympics, thus making it the very first time they did not win gold in the discipline. The Chinese quartet clocked 3:27.46, while the Americans clocked 3:28.01... The men's 4x100m medley relay was first held at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, and the United States have won gold in the discipline whenever they have participated. They did not win at the 1980 Moscow Games because they did not compete.
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Men's 200-metre breaststroke world record-holder (long course) 28 July 2023 – present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
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Asian Games champions in men's50 m breaststroke | |
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Asian Games Champions in Men's 4×100 m Medley Relay | |
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Asian Games Champions in 4×100 m mixed medley relay | |
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