National swimming championships kicks off in E China

Chinese national swimming championships kicked off in Huangshan city, east China's Anhui province on Friday.

According to the organizing committee, Olympic gold winner Ye Shiwen will participate in women's 50m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke and 50m butterfly.

Unlike Ye, some Chinese swimming stars, including Sun Yang, chose not to involve in this competition because they just finished their tour in the 12th National Games or the East Asian Games.

"It's a good opportunity for every team here to find promising swimmers, some of whom may represent China to attend the 2016 Rio Olympics," said a spokesman of the organizing committee.

A total of 304 swimmers from all over China are competing in about 40 events of the championships, which last from October 25-29.