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The six-day national swimming championships ended at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in East China's Zhejiang province on May 6.

Fei Liwei, who was born in Jiashan county, Jiaxing, in 2003, won gold medals in the men's 800m and 1,500m freestyle, men's 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays, and bronze in the men's 400m freestyle.

In the 1,500m freestyle, Fei clocked China's best time in nearly a decade, with a time of 14 minutes and 46.59 seconds.

This achievement is only the third time a Chinese athlete, following Sun Yang (men's 1,500m freestyle final at the 2012 London Olympics with a time of 14 minutes and 31.02 seconds) and Zhang Lin (men's 1,500m freestyle preliminary at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a time of 14 minutes and 45.84 seconds), has reached the mark of 14 minutes and 47 seconds in the men's 1,500m freestyle.

Fei endured unimaginable hardships in winning the championship in this competition. "At the beginning of my national competition, I couldn't even make it to the finals, and then slowly moved on to the top eight and three places, step by step. I feel that as long as I work hard and achieve my goals, I will forget those things that were not easy during the process," said Fei.

Fei also expressed his desire to do well at the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in September, where he will strive to win championships in the men's 800m and 1,500m events.

Fei Liwei competes in a swimming competition. [Photo/jiaxingren.com]