With a string of youngest records under her name and a world championships team medal around her neck, China’s schoolgirl swimmer Yu Zidi has probably enjoyed the coolest summer holiday among all her peers.
Although the 12-year-old did not win any individual medal, she capped off her debut at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore as an instant hit with the sport’s global community by becoming the youngest ever to qualify for the meet, the youngest to make it to a final, and the youngest to finish on the podium.
The preteen sensation completed her final individual event at the worlds on Sunday with another near-miss from the podium, as she clocked 4 minutes and 33.76 seconds to finish fourth in the women’s 400 meters individual medley final.
Summer McIntosh of Canada, reigning Olympic champion and world record-holder, clinched gold with a time of 4:25.78, while Australia’s Jenna Forrester and Japan’s Mio Narita clocked the exact same time (4:33.26) to share silver.
No bronze medal is awarded to a fourth swimmer when a tied finish happens in a race, according to the rules of the world championships.
Yu had to settle for fourth position in her previous two individual events, finishing 0.06 second shy of the podium in the 200m individual medley on July 28 and 0.31 second behind third in the 200m butterfly on Thursday.
She will leave Singapore with a medal, however, as a member of China’s bronze-winning women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
With the relay bronze won on Thursday, Yu became the youngest medalist in the championships’ history, after having become the youngest to qualify for the worlds at the Chinese national trials in May and the youngest to advance to an individual final on July 28.
Yu also achieved new personal bests in all her three individual events in Singapore, surpassing some of the world’s greatest swimmers in these respective events when they were 12, including Michael Phelps of the United States, who is the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history, and McIntosh, a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
Looking back at her sensational international debut, Yu said she enjoyed every minute as a great learning experience.
“The world championships are much more intense than I imagined, and the atmosphere is really great. During warmup, the pool was very crowded and lively, but I adapted well,” she told Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.
“I learned a lot. … I want to learn McIntosh’s turning technique. I take her as a role model and hope to become as excellent as her. I want to compete again at the next world championships, swim against the world’s top swimmers, and try to stand on the podium,” she said.
The rise of the Chinese prodigy has turned heads at the Singapore meet, with international rivals taking notice of her progress.
“She is amazing. She is still 12. Maybe she will go to LA (Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics). Everyone is a bit scared of her already,” Japanese swimming icon Rikako Ikee said on Saturday.
Led by strong performances from female swimmers, Team China collected four more medals on Sunday — two each of silver and bronze — to finish sixth on the overall swimming medal tally at the worlds with two gold, six silver and six bronze medals.
