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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 14, 2001

Liu Limin Enjoys Her Last National Games

Coming as the eldest and one of the most brilliant woman swimmers at China's Ninth National Games, Liu Limin enjoyed her last competition and was content for her sixth-place finish in the 100 meters butterfly final here on Tuesday night.


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Coming as the eldest and one of the most brilliant woman swimmers at China's Ninth National Games, Liu Limin enjoyed her last competition and was content for her sixth-place finish in the 100 meters butterfly final here on Tuesday night.

At the age of 25, Liu was the eldest among her teenage rivals who dominated the pool. among them was Zheng Xi from south China's Guangdong Province who clocked a world's fifth fastest time of the year in the final.

Zheng, 18, stormed home in 58.77 seconds, 0.44 seconds shy of Liu's national and Asian record set in the 1994 Asian Games. Pace setter Liu Nan from Liaoning, 16, came to third behind 17-year-old Liu Xiaoxiao, also from the northeastern Chinese province, 59.32 to 59.35, respectively.

Liu, who stunned the world with her back-to-back triumph in the butterfly events at the 1994 world championships, chased hard all the way but failed to narrow the gap, finishing in 1:00.24.

"This is my last competition (at the national games). I've given my best shot. I'm happy I'm still here as a finalist in the National Games with a group of teenagers. I should say I'm a talent as in my situation," said a smiling Liu.

Pursuing an academic degree of international economics in the University of Nevada, the United States, Liu has being training all by herself since 1998. She had been crowned twice at the NCAA championships, becoming the first swimming champion in the university's history.

"I only had seven weeks to prepare for the National Games because of my busy study. I knew there would be heated competitions and I'm glad to see so many up-and-coming youngsters," said the Olympic silver-medalist at the Atlanta Games.

Liu had competed in the two previous national games and tasted up-and-down as she swept two titles in the 1993 games but failed to make the finals four years later in Shanghai.

She also represented China in last year's Olympic Games in Sydney, where she failed to qualify for the 100m and 200m butterfly finals.

Liu said she may quit competitive swimming but continue to enjoy swimming in the future.

"I don't know what to do after my graduation next year but I will continue to swim just for fun," she said.




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