Without Olympic champion Liu, 24 Chinese swimmers to attend Japan Open

BEIJING, Feb. 17 -- China will send a 24-strong team without Beijing Olympic champion Liu Zige to compete in the Japan Open short course swim meet to be held in Tokyo on Feb. 21-22.

Zhang Lin, the men's 400 meters freestyle runner-up at the Beijing Olympic Games, and Jiao Liuyang, women's 200m butterfly silver medalist behind the winner Liu Zige, will show off at their trademark events.

Zhang, who had an ankle operation last November, said, "I'd like to know how much I have recovered from the injury and how far it is to my best form."

Zhang will swim 200m, 400m, 1500m freestyle in Tokyo.

Liu Zige, the winner of the Olympic women's 200m butterfly in a world record time, is training in Australia and will skip the Japan meet.

Wu Peng, the men's 200m butterfly bronze medalist in 2007 World Championships and fourth in the Olympics, has had an elbow operation on Feb. 16 after he tumbled on the slip floor on Feb. 14. He had to wait for another six months to come back to the pool.

Jiang Binbo, the Chinese team manager, said: "It's the first international competition of the year 2009, and we hope our veterans can find their best form through the meet while the youngsters accumulate experience."

Zhou Yafei, fourth placer in the Olympic women's 100m butterfly, may fly to Japan later on Feb. 18 if she can get the visa with three other swimmers.

Following is the Chinese team:

Men:

Chen Zuo, Shi Tengfei, Zhang Lin, Sun Yang, Sun Xiaolei, Chen Yin, Liu Weijia.

Women:

Xu Yanwei, Zhu Yingwen, Tang Jingzhi, Pang Jiaying, Tang Yi, Mi Mengjiao, Zhu Qianwei, Chen Yanyan, Gao Chang, Zhao Jing, Yang Yu, Sun Ye, Ji Liping, Jiao Liuyang, Hong Wenwen, Liu Jing, Li Jiaxing.