Yu Zidi, the Prodigy Redefining Asian Swimming History

Yu Zidi continues to make history in the swimming world. At just 13 years old, the Chinese swimmer has once again challenged the boundaries of global swimming. This week, the young prodigy broke the Asian record for the 200m medley at the National Games of China, held in Shenzhen, with an astonishing time of 2:07.41. This time surpassed the previous record held for over a decade by Ye Shiwen, the Olympic champion from London 2012, who set a time of 2:07.57 at the age of 16.

The impact of her performance goes beyond mere statistics: Yu not only claimed the national championship with authority beyond her years, but she also established herself as one of the nine fastest women in history at this distance. Only six have managed to break the 2:07 mark, with Canadian Summer McIntosh (2:05.70) leading the world rankings.

Her appearance in Shenzhen is not an isolated incident. The teenager from Baoding (Hebei province) has experienced a meteoric rise since bursting onto the Chinese Olympic trials last year, when at just 11 years old, she nearly qualified for Paris 2024. This summer, at the World Championships in Singapore, she became the sensation of the competition, being the youngest medalist in the history of the event by winning bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay with the national team. In individual events, she also came close to the podium: she finished fourth in the 200m and 400m medley, and in the 200m butterfly, just one step away from a podium finish.

Her story has the makings of a sports fable. Born on October 16, 2012, Yu discovered her talent almost by chance. "A coach approached me one day at a water park and asked if I wanted to swim faster," she recounted in an interview before the world event in Singapore this summer. Since then, her progress has been rapid: by the age of nine, she was part of the Hebei Taihua Jinye club, and by eleven, she participated in the Chinese national championships, swimming ten events and setting unprecedented records in her category.

The phenomenon has not gone unnoticed in the swimming world. "No one expected a twelve-year-old girl to compete at this level," acknowledged Brent Nowicki, executive director of World Aquatics. International rules only allow under-14s to compete if they achieve the strict A standards - a goal that seemed unattainable for a pre-teen until Yu proved otherwise.

In recent months, Yu has accumulated national titles in the 400m medley and 200m butterfly, in addition to her impressive continental record in the 200m medley. This Thursday, she will dive back into the water in search of another gold at the National Games, representing her home province.

Beyond her times, Yu Zidi embodies a new era for Chinese swimming, a generation that combines early talent with the scientific sophistication of the country's high-performance programs. If she maintains this progression, many already see her as the natural successor to Ye Shiwen and a serious contender for the Olympic podium in Los Angeles 2028. At 13, the girl who once swam for fun at a water park is now swimming against history... and winning.