Swimmer Yu Zidi, 13 years old, sets her first record in Asia Sports

Less than a month after turning 13, China’s Yu Zidi set her first Asian record at the Chinese National Swimming Games in Shenzhen last Tuesday, winning the 200m individual medley with a bang. Yu’s time, 2:07.41, surpassed the Asian record of his compatriot Ye Shiwen, who won the Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Games with a time of 2:07.57, when he was 16 years old.

Yu, the youngest medalist in the history of the World Swimming Championships, finished second, nearly a second behind runner-up Yu Yiting, 20, the 2022 Asian Games champion. Only eight swimmers in history have managed to swim faster in the event, with Canadian Summer McIntosh being the world record holder with a time of 2:05.70. Yu has made a rapid rise since qualifying for the Olympic Trials in China last year, where he was very close to qualifying for the Paris Games when he was only 11 years old.

In May, she became national champion in the 400 meter medley and 200 meter butterfly, and finished second in the 200 meter medley, allowing her to qualify for the World Championships in Singapore, where she became the youngest medalist in history by winning bronze in the 4×200 freestyle relay with the Chinese team. She also placed fourth in Singapore in her three individual events: the 200, 400 medley and 200 butterfly. Yu, who represents his home province of Hebei, will compete in the 200m butterfly heats on Thursday, seeking another gold medal at the quadrennial Chinese National Games.

Yu’s emergence unleashed a whirlwind at the recent Swimming World Cup. “We never imagined that a 12-year-old girl could swim like this,” said Brent Nowicki, executive director of the International Aquatics Federation. The regulations allow minors under 14, the minimum age, to compete only if they obtain so-called “A” grades. But almost no one believed that children could achieve it. Zaidi did it in the Chinese championship.