A world championship medalist at 12 years old? Meet Chinese swimming prodigy Yu Zidi

At age 12, surrounded by seasoned veterans, Summer McIntosh swam the 400-meter individual medley at the 2019 Canadian Trials in an eye-opening time of 4 minutes, 50.21 seconds.

Yu Zidi just eclipsed that time by more than 16 seconds.

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At age 12, competing at a prestigious junior meet in Toronto, McIntosh swam the 200 IM in a speedy 2:20.84.

Yu just outclassed that time by more than 11 seconds.

Those staggering comparisons to McIntosh, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, help put into perspective how insanely fast China’s 12-year-old swimming prodigy already is. Not only is Yu achieving feats no other pre-teen girl ever has, she is holding her own against the world’s best swimmers before she’s even old enough to complete middle school.

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Yu became the youngest swimmer ever to medal at the World Aquatics Championships last Thursday in Singapore when she helped China take bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. While Yu did not swim in the final, she qualified for a medal after swimming the first leg in the prelims earlier in the day.

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Remarkably, Yu’s medal-winning effort in the relay wasn’t her most jaw-dropping achievement of her week in Singapore. Yu, who won’t turn 13 until October, also took fourth place in three individual events, missing the podium by 0.06 seconds in the women’s 200-meter IM on Monday, by 0.31 seconds in the women’s 200-meter butterfly on Thursday and by 0.50 seconds in the women’s 400-meter IM on Sunday.

Swimming that fast on a global stage transformed Yu from a Chinese star to a global curiosity. Media outlets , the 18-year-old Canadian sensation who took four golds and a bronze in Singapore. Accomplished swimmers from around the world heaped praise on the Chinese preteen known for her signature cartoon dog swim cap.

“Her 12-year-old times are much faster than mine at that age,”

“Everyone is a bit scared of her,” .

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In a recent feature story published by China’s state-run news agency, Yu revealed that she only began swimming at age 6. Her family took her to a water park that summer to help her endure the heat in her hometown of Baoding about 100 miles south of Beijing.

“I enjoyed the coolness of the water and spent a lot of time in different small pools for kids,” Yu said. “One day, a coach approached me and asked if I wanted to swim faster. I then joined a daily swimming class for kids for the rest of the summer.”

What started as a hobby soon became more than that. A lot more.

Yu first hit the headlines last year when she missed out on an Olympic qualifying time for Paris by only two seconds as an 11-year-old. Then at China’s national championships in May, Yu took second place in the 200-meter IM in 2:10.63, the fastest time ever recorded in the discipline by a 12-year-old, male or female.

World Aquatics rules require an athlete to be at least 14 years old to compete at a global championship, but there’s a caveat. Swimmers who meet the A qualification standard in an event are granted access to the competition regardless of their age.

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That’s how Yu secured an invitation to Singapore. That’s how she earned the chance to cement herself as swimming’s next big thing.

Will Yu continue her climb to the top of her sport as the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles approach? That seems likely but not guaranteed. Swimming careers seldom follow linear trajectories. Plenty of teen phenoms have plateaued or even burnt out before their 20th birthdays.

In the story by Chinese state-run news agency, Yu acknowledged she too has struggled to balance training and academics.

“I almost gave up swimming before the national championships last year due to exhaustion from training and studies,” she said. “Fortunately, thanks to my coaches, teammates, friends and parents, I realized swimming is an integral part of my life, and I cannot give it up.”

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What is clear is that at age 12, Yu is already among the best in the world.

McIntosh was 14 at her first Olympics. Katie Ledecky was 15. Yu is ascending at an even more unfathomable rate.