Yu Zidi: 12-year-old swimming miracle child conquers the world

Yu Zidi: 12-year-old swimming miracle child conquers the world

The only 12-year-old Yu Zidi from China is already one of the fastest swimmers in the world. Her incredible times make you a serious medal candidate at the World Championships in Swimming, which will take place in Singapore in the coming days.

World Championships and age limits

Although the minimum age limit for the World Championships is 14 years, Yu Zidi's times are so impressive that it is still qualified. The young swimmer will compete in the disciplines 200m and 400m as well as 200m butterfly. It is also possible that it will be selected for China's relay teams.

a remarkable climb

This will be the first competition at the highest level for Yu, where she will compete against the best swimmers in the world. At the national championships in May, she not only achieved the silver medal in the 200m laying run with a time of 2: 10.63, but also set the fastest time ever for a 12-year-old in this discipline.

impressive personal best times

in the 200m butterfly, her strongest discipline, she swam a time of 2: 06.83, which would have brought her fourth place at the Olympic Games last year. This year it is the fifth fastest time worldwide. At this time she would have won golden medal at the World Championships 2024.

early beginnings and inspiration

her impressive career only started at the age of six. In an interview with the official news agency Xinhua, she said: "The summer was too hot and my father took myself to the water park. I enjoyed my coolness and spent a lot of time in small children's pool. One day a trainer spoke to me and asked if I wanted to swim faster."

Compare with other swimming talents

swimmers, especially young women, can compete at world level. One example is Canadian Summer Mcintosh, who gave her Olympic debut at the age of 14 and celebrated incredible success. The American Katie Ledecky is also another role model; She made her debut at the age of 15 at the Olympic Games and is today the most successful US Olympic woman ever with 14 medals.

goals for the future

yu Zidi's next big goal are the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where she could have a serious medal chance at the age of 15. While there are risks, such as the risk of burnout, the 12-year-old remains modest and concentrated: "Since I am not competitive in the sprint betting, I have to lay the 400 meters and choose the 200 meter butterfly as my favorites. My age is currently an advantage, and I hope to get stronger in the future."