12-year-old Chinese swimmer turns heads but how young is too young in professional sport?
The participation of 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi at the World Championships in Singapore has ignited a debate about age limits in competitive swimming. Yu's impressive performance, including a fourth-place finish in the 200m individual medley final, missing the medal by just 0.06 seconds, has raised questions about the physical and mental impact of high-level competition on young athletes.
Yu qualified for the finals of both the 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly, competing alongside Summer McIntosh, who won three golds at the Paris Olympics at age 17. Yu will also compete in the 400m medley later this week.
The young swimmer discovered the sport at age six as a way to beat the heat during China's hot summers. Her achievements draw comparisons to Inge Sorensen, who won an Olympic bronze medal at age 12 in the 1936 Berlin Games.
When asked if she was a genius, Yu responded: "No, not really. It's all the result of hard training."
Unlike Bahrain's Alzain Tareq, who competed at age 10 in the 2015 World Championships but never challenged for medals, Yu has shown remarkable competitive ability.
Christian Hansmann, sports director of German swimming, expressed concerns about Yu's participation. "Putting a girl of 12 in front of a world championship crowd of 5,000 spectators, with the high pressure from the media and the coaches, is far too early in my opinion," he said.
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French swimmer Lilou Ressencourt shared her perspective: "I'm 22 and handling world championships, even French championships, can be difficult. I tell myself that at 12, you have a heavy responsibility... it's not normal at 12 to have that kind of pressure."
Current World Aquatics rules set the minimum age at 14, but younger swimmers can compete if they meet qualifying times. Yu's participation has prompted the organisation to consider reviewing these regulations.
Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics executive director, admitted surprise at Yu's qualification at such a young age. He acknowledged the need for careful consideration of the rules while maintaining safeguarding measures.
"She's great. I mean, there's a big future there for her. Hopefully there could be good things that could happen out of this, and it could be great," Nowicki said. "Obviously we have to make sure that that's what it is, right? We don't want to tip that balance and go the other way, and we have to be careful about that."
The age debate extends beyond swimming. In 2022, figure skating authorities increased the minimum age for senior competition from 15 to 17 following a drug scandal involving Russian teenager Kamila Valieva.
Former Olympic skating champion
Katarina Witt
, who won gold at age 18 in the 1984 Sarajevo Games, supported the change, stating it was "primarily protecting the female athletes from their sometimes over-ambitious managers."
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