Thirteen-year-old Chinese swimming sensation Yu Zidi announced herself on the Asian Games stage in style, winning gold in the women’s 200m butterfly and setting a new Games record on the first full day of competition in Japan. She broke her compatriot Zhang Yufei’s record at the Hangzhou Games three years ago. Zhang won the event with a time of 2:05.57, and Yu finished nearly half a second quicker.
Yu, who turns 14 next month, clocked 2:05.08 to claim the title and secure the first major individual gold medal of her young career. The daunting thing for the swimming world, more than her age, was the fact that despite her record-breaking performance, Yu felt she could have done better.
“It was only so-so,” Yu said with a smile after receiving her
gold medal. She added that her butterfly technique “is still slightly lacking”.
“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.
Yu has already made history on the international stage. Last year, she became the youngest medallist in swimming World Championships history when she won a relay bronze medal aged just 12.
Who is Yu Zidi?
Born in Baoding, Hebei, on October 16, 2012, Yu started swimming at the age of six. She was reportedly spotted by a coach at a water park as a child and encouraged to pursue the sport competitively. She later moved to Hengshui and began training with the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club.
Yu narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics when, aged 11, she clocked 4:40.97 in the 400m individual medley, falling short of the qualifying mark of 4:38.53.
She has since emerged as one of the world’s leading young swimmers in the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. Her performances have also drawn comparisons with Canadian star Summer McIntosh, who holds the world records in all three events.
Yu is scheduled to compete in the two individual medley events in Japan as well and is already being viewed as a swimmer to watch ahead of the 2027 World Championships in Budapest and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
