Male swimmers keep China's swimming dream alive

This year seems to be an end of an era for Chinese female swimmers.

Zhou Yilin and Zhang Yufei finished fifth and sixth in the women's 200m butterfly final, missing a podium spot in the most promising swimming event, as the country has dominated the women's 200m butterfly since the 2008 Beijing Games.

Liu Zige won the Beijing Games gold medal in 2008 and Jiao Liuyang claimed the London title in 2012, but Liu failed to qualify for the Rio Games at the Chinese National Swimming Championships earlier this year.

Ye Shiwen douses herself with water before the 200m individual medley semifinal on Monday. [Photo/Agencies]

Ye Shiwen, China's decorated gold medalist in London, was also in a low ebb as she slid to last place in the women's 200m individual medley final, failing to match her record-breaking performance four years ago.

Zhu Menghui also competed in the pool on Wednesday in the women's 100m freestyle semifinal but missed a spot in the final. The women's 4x200m freestyle relay team, made up of Shen Duo, Ai Yanhan, Dong Jie and Zhang Yuhan, also missed out on medals with a fourth-place finish.

Shi Jinglin, the last remaining hope among China's female swimmers, finished fourth in the women's 200m breaststroke semifinal, making it to tomorrow's final.

Shi Jinglin of China competes Rio Olympics in the women's 200m breaststroke semifinals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 10, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]