Swimmer Yu Zidi, 13, sets her first Asian record | Sport

Less than a month after turning 13, Chinese sensation Yu Zidi achieved her first Asian record at the Chinese National Swimming Games in Shenzhen on Tuesday, authoritatively winning the 200 meters individual medley. Yu’s time, 2:07.41, surpassed the Asian mark of his compatriot Ye Shiwen, who won Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games with a time of 2:07.57, when he was 16.

Yu, the youngest medalist in World Aquatics Championships history, finished nearly a second ahead of runner-up, 20-year-old Yu Yiting, the 2022 Asian Games champion. Only eight swimmers in history have swum faster in this event, with Canadian Summer McIntosh the world record holder at 2:05.70. Yu has had a meteoric rise since breaking through at the Olympic trials in China last year, where he came very close to qualifying for the Paris Games at just 11 years old.

In May she became national champion in the 400 medley and 200 butterfly, and finished second in the 200 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 finished fourth in Singapore in her three individual events: 200m and 400m medley and 200m butterfly. Representing his home province of Hebei, Yu will compete in the 200 butterfly heats this Thursday, seeking another gold medal at China’s quadrennial National Games.

Yu’s appearance sparked a whirlwind at the last swimming World Cup. “We never imagined that a 12-year-old girl could swim like that,” said Brent Nowicki, executive director of World Aquatics, the international federation. The regulations allow children under 14, the minimum age, to compete only if they have achieved the so-called A. But almost no one thought that children could achieve them. Zidi did it in the Chinese championship.