Olympic bronze medallist Tang Yi, of Shanghai, clocked 54.03 to win the 100m freestyle on day 6 at Chinese nationals in Zhengzhou today, while Zhejiang's Mao Feilian claimed a national mark of 2:11.16 in the 200m breaststroke.

Mao, training partner of Sun Yang under coach Zhu's guidance, finished ahead of Guangdong's Mao Junjie, 2:12.81, and Xue Ruipeng, Shanxi, on 2:13.16. Twenty this year, Mao had no world ranked 200m breaststroke time before these championships: his best 100m is a 1:03.50, while his best 200m medley is 2:01.24.

He told Xinhua: "I am surprised. I felt tired today after my previous races. I used to be a medley swimmer and just changed my major to breaststroke since January."

Tang, winner of four gold medals at the Asian Games in 2010, clocked 53.28 in London last year for bronze. Today she kept at bay Liaoning's Qiu Yuhan, on 54.64, and Shanghai teammate Pang Jiaying, on 55.33. The first athlete locked out was Li Shuyi, Liaoning, on 55.39 at the helm of three others inside 56.

"I feel good today, though I am not in my best form," Tang told Xinhua. "I just resumed training for a few days, so I took the Championships as practice. The time was not very good, as my personal best is 53.28."

In other action, Xu Jiayu extended Zhejiang's domination of the meet with a 1:57.83 victory in the 200m backstroke ahead of Li Yunqi, Henan, 1:58.89, and Lin Taiqi, Fujian, on 2:00.07 at the helm of three others inside 2:01. Xu, inside his best of 1:58.27 from nationals a year ago, is the third Chinese man to crack 1:58, one of those who went before him Kunpeng Ouyang, banned for doping on the way to a home Games in Beijing in 2008, the other, Zhang Fenglin, retired this season past.

In the women's 200m breaststroke, Shi Jinglin, Jiangsu, clocked 2:25.88 for a comfortable victory, the minor spoils going to He Yuzhe, Zhejiang, in 2:29.12, and Zhang Xinyu, Guangzhou Army, in 2:29.78, that locking Shanghai's Ji Liping out on 2:29.84.

In the last race of the session, Henan took the 4x200m free club relay in 7:18.09 ahead of Jiangsu, 7:20.09, and Sun Yang's Zhejiang, on 7:20.51, 0.25sec ahead of Beijing.

Day 6 results at a glance

• Women
• 100m freestyle
• 1. Tang Yi, Shanghai, 54.03 
• 2. Qiu Yuhan, Liaoning, 54.64
• 3. Pang Jiaying, Shanghai, 55.33
• 4. Li Shuyi, Liaoning, 55.39
• 200m breaststroke:
• 1. Shi Jinglin, Jiangsu, 2:25.88
• 2. He Yuzhe, Zhejiang, 2:29.12
• 3. Zhang Xinyu, Guangzhou Army, 2:29.78
• Men
• 200m backstroke:
• 1. Xu Jiayu, Zhejiang, 1:57.83
• 2. Li Yunqi, Henan, 1:58.89
• 3. Lin Taiqi, Fujian, 2:00.07
• 200m breaststroke
• Mao Feilian, Zhejiang, 2:11.16
• Mao Junjie, Guangdong, 2:12.81
• Xue Ruipeng, Shanxi, 2:13.16
• 4x200m freestyle relay:
• 1. Henan, 7:18.09
• 2. Jiangsu, 7:20.09
• 3. Zhejiang, 7:20.51