China's top freestyle swimmer Zhang Lin kept rising momentum from a three-month training session in Australia to charge near the national record in an Olympic trial competition on Tuesday.

In the men's 200 meters freestyle final, Zhang emerged victoriously with one minute 47.63 seconds, only 0.1 second shy of the national record he achieved at the Melbourne World Championships last year. Zhang placed sixth at the championships event, won by American Michael Phelps, clocking 1:43.86.

"I thought I could break the national record, but it was my first final at the trial. I think I can do better in the following events," he said.

According to the schedule, Zhang will swim in the 400 meters freestyle on Thursday and 1,500 meters on Saturday.

Zhang added he planned to train in Australia in May, after marked improvement which he said could be attributed to the three-month training in Australia with Denis Cotterell, former coach of Australian long-distance king Grant Hackett.

At February's China Open swim meet, the 21-year-old swimmer renewed the national record of men's 400 meters freestyle. His result of 3:45.04 could entitle him to the silver medal at the Melbourne championships.

In Tuesday's competitions, the women's 400 meters individual medley saw a tight race between fledgling Li Xuanxu and veteran Qi Hui, who took the first two positions, clocking four minutes 39.07 seconds and 4:39.64 respectively.

Qi was the champion of the event at the 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha Asian Games. The 23-year-old Qi, currently China's top breaststroker, said Li has become stronger than her in the event, but added that Li still had room for improvement through more competitions.

In other events, Ouyang Kunpeng won the gold medal of men's 200 meters backstroke, clocking one minute and 59.51 seconds. Zhao Jing claimed the title of women's 200 meters backstroke, clocking two minutes 8.41 seconds.

In women's 400 meters individual medley, the powerful Shanghai team's finishing time of three minutes 42.53 seconds helped the girls take home the gold.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2008)