13-year-old Chinese swimmer wins first major gold at Asian Games

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China’s 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi smashed the Asian Games record as she won gold in Japan on Sunday, two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics.

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Yu, who turns 14 next month, romped home in the women’s 200m butterfly in 2min 05.08sec to shave almost half a second off the time set by China’s Zhang Zufei three years ago in Hangzhou of 2:05:57.

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Her time in winning her first major gold medal was 3.36 seconds faster than China’s Chang Mohan, who took the silver.

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It was the first of three individual events Yu is scheduled to compete in at the Asian Games, where swimming events are being held in Tokyo.

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Yu became the youngest swimming world championships medallist in history last year when she won bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

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She also finished a whisker outside the medals in fourth in three world individual events.

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She has embellished her growing reputation this year, notably with a victory over multiple American Olympic champion Regan Smith in March.

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The schoolgirl with the pixie haircut is expected to be a serious contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

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But she has spoken of struggling to deal with the heavy load placed on her.

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During the build-up to last year’s China National Games, she said the pressure of wanting to win the 400m medley nearly became too much.

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Her coach told her to persevere and “believe in yourself,” she said.

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Yu went on to win four medals at the National Games.

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Some in the swimming world have questioned the mental and physical impact of high-level training and competing on Yu at such a young age.

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Under World Aquatics rules, the minimum age for international championships is 14, but exceptions can be made for younger swimmers if they are fast enough.

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AFP

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