China's top swimmers have shown good form at the National Championships in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, even as some youngsters are drawing attention to their talents.

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Olympic champion Sun Yang has shrugged off an off-pool row and proved he is back to his best with four gold medals and three world-best results.

The 21-year-old just reunited with his long-term coach Zhu Zhigen in March after his love affair soured their relationship and Sun had been out of systematic training for over two months.

However, Sun's performance at the National Championships showed that the freestyle specialist has never been really away from the pool.

The Olympic 400m and 1,500m freestyle champion at  London Olympics led all the way to win the 1,500 free in 14 minutes, 48.10 seconds yesterday, the world's fastest time so far this year.

"I wanted to swim under 15 minutes before the race, and the final went very smoothly today," said Sun, looking ahead to the Barcelona world championships.

He also won the 200 and 400 titles in 1:44.99 and 3:42.93, respectively, which were also world-best results of the season so far.

Magic girl Ye Shiwen also collected four gold medals. The Olympic 200 and 400 medley champion showed her versatility as she won the 200 freestyle and backstroke. Ye won the 400 medley in 4:34.27 yesterday, which was about six seconds outside her Olympic winning result and the world record 4:28.43.

"I was very tired," said the 17-year-old. "I took part in too many races which exhausted me."

London Olympic 200 butterfly champion Jiao Liuyang won the 200 fly while and 100 fly runner-up Lu Ying topped the 50 and 100 fly.

Some young swimmers also proved their mettle.

Fourteen-year-old Liaoning Province girl Qiu Yuhan was in the limelight after finishing third in the women's 200 free yesterday. Qiu, who also took a silver in the 100 free, is hopeful of taking part in the Barcelona worlds in July.

Ning Zetao, 20, from the Chinese Navy, won the 50 and 100 freestyle. His 100 free time reached the A standard of the world championships and broke the national record.