The swimming competition at the 18th Zhejiang Provincial Games opened on Oct 19 at the Quzhou Sports Center in Quzhou, Zhejiang province, bringing together 535 young swimmers from 11 prefecture-level cities across the province. The competition runs through Oct 24.

The six-day program includes freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, individual medley, and relay events. It also provides a platform for identifying promising swimmers for provincial and national teams.

Young swimmers compete in the swimming events at the 18th Zhejiang Provincial Games in Quzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

Zheng Meirui of Wenzhou won the girls' 200-meter individual medley for 11-year-olds, claiming her first provincial games gold medal. Huang Zi of Jiaxing took gold in the boys' 400-meter freestyle for 12-year-olds.

Hangzhou won the girls' 4x100-meter freestyle relay for 12-year-olds, setting a meet record, according to head coach Xu Lulu. She said training methods had become more scientific and that the overall standard of youth swimming had continued to improve.

The venue hosted the Zhejiang Youth (Children's) Swimming Championships and a test event for the provincial games' swimming competition in July. The events gave organizers an opportunity to check the facilities, competition procedures, and judging arrangements ahead of the main event.

The swimming competition is among the first major events in the provincial games' main competition period, which runs from Oct 18 to 30 in Quzhou.