Tang Yan"s catch-up wasn"t over yet. He accelerated again and flew directly past the Shanghai swimmer.He rushed into the top three!
Ning Xuantao and Chen Zuo were at the forefront, and the audience instantly reacted when they saw Tang Yan chasing after them.
Both swimmers were shocked seeing him closing in. This speed was crazy!
Sensing the threat, the two made a mad dash for the finish line.
For the last 30 meters, the three were all racing forward.
As the ace of the Beijing team but also a famous veteran, the former freestyle 100 meters Asian record holder, Chen Zuo had his mind full of complicated thoughts.
He was planning to retire soon, he viewed the World Champions.h.i.+ps as his last opportunity to compete at a high level with the very best there were.
But he found that although he was going all out he could not stop the seemingly small figure behind him gaining on him.
He was still putting his all in, when he was overtaken 20 meters from the finish line.
At this moment, in the heart of the veteran, waves of emotions rushed over him like that of the waves of the Yangtze River. However, considering the two ahead were both young, there was some comfort in his heart.
The audience"s emotions had reached a point of overturning. Tang Yan was like a high-speed motor, continuously surpa.s.sing the leading swimmers at a speed visible to the naked eye and what was more exciting in a race than seeing a great comeback!
After surpa.s.sing the swimming star Chen Zuo, Tang Yan"s eyes were left on the incredible newcomer, Ning Xuantao.
Ning Xuantao was indeed amazing in strength.
However, even so, he still couldn"t stop the pace of Tang Yan"s pursuit.
The distance from the finish was less than 10 meters but his lead had been greatly reduced to a metre.
Ning Xuantao already felt a little exhausted, but he was still trying to accelerate.
He couldn"t let the gold medal in front of him be taken away.
The audience had all stood up by now and were loudly shouting both their names. No matter who won the race, it had been a phenomenal display and they were currently on track to beat the national record.
9 metres, 8 metres, 7 metres, 6 metres, 5 metres.
4 metres, 3 metres, 2 metres.
Ning Xuantuo shot out a determined arm, reaching to touch the wall.
At the same time, Tang Yan completely closed the gap and shot out his left arm.
Tang Yan screamed in his heart and stretched out his hand.
Come on!
He struggled to touch the pool wall.
The two almost touched the wall in synchronisation!
Tang Yan instantly looked up at the jumbotron.
The Hubei Province - 3 minutes 21 seconds 31.
The Zhejiang Province - 3 minutes 21 seconds 23!
Tang Yan had done it!
The Zhejiang Province won the 4X100 freestyle relay champions.h.i.+p!
Tang Yan beat the water in glee and screamed in excitement.
The scene was followed by an explosive cheer, he had chased down six people, completing an almost impossible reversal.
This race, although only a domestic event had enough suspense to become the most cla.s.sic scene of this year"s swimming season.
The audience cheered for Tang Yan"s magical performance. The provincial coaches were shocked by Tang Yan"s speed. Although there was no accurate timing, they felt like for the final 100m his time had to have been within 50 seconds.
As Tang Yan left the pool, the cheers of the audience rose again, and even many provincial team coaches stood up and clapped for him.
Though he was a compet.i.tor of theirs and had just beat their team, his performance just now was nothing less than deserving of applause.
Tang Yan was immediately surrounded by his teammates, even Sun Yang who had to be helped along limped up to embrace him.
Although Shen Qing did not go up at this moment, he was also emotional. For the last few days the team hadn"t been performing as well as expected but Tang Yan"s performance tonight rekindled his hope.
After the end of the celebration with his teammates, Tang Yan didn"t stay on the scene, but went directly towards the women"s section.
During the men"s 4X100 relay race was the 200m women"s medley final, the race that Ye s.h.i.+wen was partic.i.p.ating in.
Because the two races were at the same time, he didn"t get to watch the race, but after he got ash.o.r.e, he soon knew the result. Ye s.h.i.+wen"s 200-meter medley went abnormally, she failed to win gold.
Tang Yan walked around looking for Ye s.h.i.+wen.
When he found Ye s.h.i.+wen, her eyes were red and swollen. It was obvious she had been crying.
However, when she saw Tang Yan, she quickly put on a smile and said: "Brother Tang, I heard that you made an epic comeback and won the relay. Haha sniff haha."
"Hey, why do you look like you"ve been crying, what"s wrong." Tang Yan said and touched Ye s.h.i.+wen"s head.
When she heard Tang Yan"s words, Ye s.h.i.+wen"s nose was sore and her tears began to fall again.
Tang Yan quickly pulled her over and hugged her in his arms and patted her head and said: "Hey s.h.i.+wen don"t cry, calm down, breathe...what"s wrong."
"I lost...crying sniff sniff I didn"t even reach the A grade criteria..." said Ye s.h.i.+wen crying in the arms of Tang Yan.
Tang Yan"s heart quaked.
He moved Ye s.h.i.+wen out of his arms and reached out to help her wipe her tears and said: "Hey don"t cry okay, you"re a big girl. It doesn"t matter if you didn"t get an A grade time. You were in second place. Plus you reached the A grade criteria in the preliminaries, you can still go to the World Champions.h.i.+ps."
"But I..."
Tang Yan interrupted Ye s.h.i.+wen and said, "What matters is that we qualified for the World Champions.h.i.+ps. This is the most important thing, so don"t cry anymore okay."
"Sniff..okay...Sniff." Ye s.h.i.+wen saw Tang Yan"s kind gaze and she wiped her tears whilst nodding.