2026 CHINESE SC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- October 23rd – October 28th
- Beijing, China
- SCM (25m)
- Results via Asian media
On the heels of having just ripped a new Asian Record in the men’s SCM 100 backstroke, 31-year-old Xu Jiayu of China unleashed a new World Record in the 50m backstroke.
Racing in the final of the mixed medley relay at the 2026 Chinese Short Course Championships, Xu led off his Zhejiang Shouxian Valley squad with a monster split of 22.03.
That not only registered a new lifetime best, Chinese national and Asian continental record for the veteran, but it also downed the newly minted World Record of 22.09 South African Pieter Coetze put on the books just earlier this month.
Coetze clocked his time of 22.09 at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup stop in Tashkent, with that outing overtaking the previous WR of 22.11 set by Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov in 2022.
As for Xu, his lead-off split tonight obliterated his former PB and Asian standard of 22.70 he established during the 2018 World Cup. He hacked well over half a second off that prior result.
His team went on to take gold in the mixed medley, with Sun Zheyang (26.16), Yan Tiaoshan (25.55) and Lv Yue (23.77) combining for a final time of 1:37.51.
🚨🌏NEW WORLD RECORD!!!!!!!!!
🇨🇳XU JIAYU
SCM 50Ba 22.03 WR!!!!!!!!The 6th-oldest swimmer ever to set a World Record😱😱🤯🤯🤯🤯
The previous WR set by 🇿🇦Pieter Coetzé on October 9 has already been broken🤯🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/AxRdkZKA4l— 競泳NEWS (@swimcoverage) October 24, 2026
Xu is having quite the championship season, with tonight’s performances joining the impressive swims he delivered at this year’s Asian Games. There in Tokyo, the seasoned ace won the LCM 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke in respective efforts of 24.04 and 21.98, with both checking in as Games Records. Prior to that competition, Xu earned a new Asian Record in the LCM 50 back, courtesy of the 23.92 he clocked at June’s Chinese Championships.
