The 2026 China Open Swimming Championships Photo: VCG

The 2026 China Open Swimming Championships kicked off on Thursday in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, bringing together approximately 500 athletes for four days of high-stakes racing.

Billed as China's first domestic high-level swimming tournament featuring international stars, the event merges an international open competition with the domestic National Spring Swimming Championships under a "double meet in one" structure. 

Domestic athletes compete under club or provincial banners rather than national teams, with 31 squads represented. Adding star power are 17 invited Olympic and World Championships medalists from nine countries and regions, including the US, Australia, Italy, Germany, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The event has introduced a highly attractive prize system that will award gold medalists $10,000, silver medalists $6,000 and bronze medalists $4,000, organizers said. 

Liu Jiangping, a senior official with China's swimming governing body, stated that the launch of the China Open Swimming Championships provides Chinese athletes with an opportunity to compete against world-class opponents in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. 

"It allows athletes to evaluate their winter training results and gain extensive competition experience through high-level contests," Liu told a press conference earlier this week. 

"The event also serves as a platform for swimmers from China and abroad to have exchanges, learn from each other and enhance friendship, helping China's swimming sport progress toward world level."

With no major international long-course championships on the calendar this year, the event offers a rare opportunity for top domestic talent to face off against the world's best athletes.

On the home front, China's contingent is anchored by several Olympic champions and world-record holders, providing both veteran experience and a platform for emerging talent ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

World-record holder in the men's 100m freestyle Pan Zhanle headlines the men's field, entered in the 100m, 200m, and 800m freestyle events. 

Tokyo Olympic 200m individual medley champion Wang Shun returns to focus on his signature 200m individual medley. 

Younger prospects such as Zhang Zhanshuo round out a balanced squad blending established stars and rising names.

In the women's events, Olympic butterfly champion Zhang Yufei, breaststroke standout Tang Qianting, and long-distance freestyle Olympic gold medalist Li Bingjie are all slated to compete, with Li targeting the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle. 

Tang shattered the previous Asian record in women's 50m breaststroke twice at the heat and final on Thursday, as she set a new record with 29.44 seconds.

Additional contenders include individual medley talent Yu Yiting, freestylers Cheng Yujie and Tang Muhan. 

Notably absent are several prominent names including breaststroke specialist Qin Haiyang, backstroke star Xu Jiayu, freestyle standout Yang Junxuan and veteran Ye Shiwen.

A major domestic storyline centers on 13-year-old sensation Yu Zidi, who is entered in five events: 200m and 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 200m backstroke, and 200m breaststroke. Yu Zidi already holds the Asian record in the 200m individual medley and made headlines as one of the youngest breakthrough performers at recent major competitions, drawing significant attention as a symbol of China's next generation.

Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey, a multi-Olympic medalist and 200m freestyle world champion, will contest the women's middle-distance freestyle events.

The international lineup reads like a who's who of recent Olympic and world champions, such as the US women's 200m backstroke world-record holder Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh and Olympic gold medalist Kate Douglass. 

Australian participants feature a powerful sprint and distance group that consists of 100m freestyle Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers, short-distance specialist Cameron McEvoy, Mollie O'Callaghan and Lani Pallister.

Italy's Thomas Ceccon, the Olympic champion in the 100m backstroke, and Nicolo Martinenghi, 100m breaststroke Olympic champion, as well as Germany's Lukas Martens, Olympic champion in the 400m freestyle, add further international depth. 

Notably, several swimmers from North Korea have registered to compete in the events, including Kim Sol-song, Hong Chon-song and Won Wi-song, who made their appearance in Thursday's heats. North Korean swimmers have not made appearance in major international competitions such as a world championships or the Olympics since the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.