Zhang Yufei of China reacts after the women's 100m butterfly final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on July 24, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

FUKUOKA, Japan — Team China's pool stars showed the world they mean business, bagging back-to-back gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan on Monday.

The Chinese sweep saw Zhang Yufei win the women's 100-meter butterfly and Qin Haiyang go wire-to-wire in the men's 100m breaststroke.

Zhang, a hugely popular household name in China ever since her 200m butterfly gold at the Tokyo Olympics, rallied over the final 15 meters, touching in 56.12 seconds. Maggie MacNeil of Canada finished second in 56.45, and Torri Huske of the United States clocked 56.61 for third just two years after placing fourth in the event at the Tokyo Games.

The women's race was a rematch of the 100m final two years ago at the Olympics. The top four finishers in Tokyo were separated by only 14 hundredths of a second. That race went to MacNeil, followed by Zhang and Australian Emma McKeon. Huske was a mere one hundredth of a second behind McKeon in fourth.

Zhang Yufei of China competes during the women's 100m butterfly final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, July 24, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

"This is my first gold medal in the world championships," Zhang said, calling her competitors MacNeil, McKeon and Huske "my old friends".

We all know that it is not easy to break the world record ... We need to work hard. We need to find the perfect moment to do the perfect job ... The Asian Games seem the perfect chance for me. Let's just look forward to a new record.

Zhang Yufei, Chinese competitive swimmer

Zhang said she's changed her racing style, holding back on the first leg "and then going as fast as I can on the last 50".

Her winning time was 0.64 seconds short of Swede Sarah Sjostrom's world mark of 55.48 set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Zhang is confident that the record will not stand for long. "She is my idol," Zhang said at a news conference. "I remember that I just looked at her record and dreamed that one day I will be her. After so many years' hard work, I'm close to the world record now. It's just in front of me."

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"I hope that one day I will break the world record and also I can be an idol for somebody else," she added.

Zhang believes that it will be the right time to rewrite the mark at the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

"We all know that it is not easy to break the world record," she said. "We need to work hard. We need to find the perfect moment to do the perfect job.

"The Asian Games seem the perfect chance for me. Let's just look forward to a new record."

That helped the Chinese team banish the memory of last year's world championships in Budapest, where it won only one individual swimming gold.

'100 percent focused'

Qin was never challenged in the 100 breaststroke and finished in 57.69. Three men tied for second in 58.72: Nic Fink of the United States, Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy and Arno Kamming of the Netherlands.

"Everything just went the way I was thinking," Qin said. "And also this is just a start for me. I'm hoping for three golds."

"That is a pretty good time. That is my best time. But I can do better. I will catch up to the world record," Qin said of Adam Peaty's 56.88 mark set at the worlds in 2019.

Qin Haiyang (bottom) of China competes during the men's 100m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on July 24, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

"I was 100 percent focused on my swim, because I thought if I did my best I could get the gold," Qin added.

"Every little detail, every stroke, every turn I was concentrated."

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I was 100 percent focused on my swim, because I thought if I did my best I could get the gold ... Every little detail, every stroke, every turn I was concentrated.

Qin Haiyang, Chinese competitive swimmer

Qin will also go in the 50 and 200. In the 200, he'll be up against rising French star Leon Marchand, who obliterated Michael Phelps' 400 individual medley record on Sunday, and Zac Stubblety-Cook — the world and Olympic champion and world-record holder from Australia. His world record is 2:05.95.

The men's 100 breaststroke was partly defined by who did not compete. Peaty, a two-time Olympic champion and world-record holder from Britain, is taking a break and is not swimming in Japan. He has said in interviews that he's taking time away for "mental-health issues". The 28-year-old said he has been in a "self-destructive spiral" and has spoken previously about periods of depression and problems with alcohol.

Peaty is one of the most dominant swimmers in his discipline and holds 19 of the top 20 times in the 100 breaststroke.

The absence of defending champion Caeleb Dressel from the men's 50 butterfly opened the door for Thomas Ceccon who touched in 22.68 to win Italy's first gold of the meet to loud cheers at a packed Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall.

"I had the 100 backstroke (semis)20 minutes ago so it was really hard for me mentally and physically," said Ceccon, who is the reigning champion in that event too.

"But I did it and I'm super happy with that."

Qin Haiyang of China competes during the men's 100m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, July 24, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Dressel, who also claimed gold at the 2019 Gwangju worlds, failed to qualify for Fukuoka after disappointing displays at the US national championships.

The American pair of Kate Douglas and Alex Walsh, college teammates at the University of Virginia, later went 1-2 in the 200 IM with Yu Yiting of China taking bronze. It was the Americans' first gold.

"That was a huge honor for me to do it tonight," said Douglass, who overtook Walsh in the final freestyle leg to finish in 2:07.17.

"I really just wanted to get the gold for Team USA tonight, and I'm so happy I did that."

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Walsh finished in 2:07.97 and Yu in 2:08.74.