On the first full day of competition in Japan, 13-year-old Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi made a spectacular debut on the Asian Games stage by winning gold in the women’s 200-meter butterfly and creating a new Games record. Three years ago in the Hangzhou Games, she smashed the record set by her fellow countryman Zhang Yufei. Yu finished over half a second faster than Zhang, who won the event with a time of 2:05.57. Yu, who will turn 14 next month, won the medal and earned her first major individual gold of her young career with a time of 2:05.08. More than her age, Yu’s record-breaking performance was intimidating to the swimming community since she believed she might have performed better.
On the world stage, Yu has already created history. She earned a bronze medal in a relay last year at the age of twelve, making her the youngest medalist in the history of the swimming World Championships.
“It was only so-so,” Yu said as she got her gold medal. Her butterfly technique “is still slightly lacking,” she continued.
“I hope I can swim even faster. I improved my time by 0.9 seconds here, and I believe I will perform better next time,” she said.
Who is Yu Zidi?
Yu was born on October 16, 2012, in Baoding, Hebei, and began swimming at age six. When she was younger, a coach apparently saw her at a water park and inspired her to play the sport competitively. After relocating to Hengshui, she started working out with the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club. When Yu, then 11 years old, finished 4:40.97 in the 400-meter individual medley, she just missed qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The qualifying time was 4:38.53.
Since then, she has become one of the top young swimsuits in the world in the 200-meter individual medley, 200-meter butterfly, and 400-meter individual medley. Summer McIntosh, a Canadian star who owns the world records in all three disciplines, has also been compared to her performances.
Prior to the 2027 World Championships in Budapest and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Yu is already regarded as a swimmer to watch and is slated to compete in the two individual medley events in Japan.