Meet 12-year-old Yu Zidi: How China's swimming prodigy competed at Worlds despite age rules?

Time of India

a day ago

Twelve-year-old Chinese swimming sensation
Yu Zidi
made history at the 2025
World Aquatics
Championships in Singapore, becoming the youngest medalist in the event's history. Yu, who began swimming at the age of 6, was part of
China
's bronze medal-winning
4x200m freestyle relay
team, behind Australia and the United States.
Although she didn't swim in the final race, Yu earned her medal by competing in the preliminary heats, helping secure China's place in the championship final. Her contribution was crucial, and under competition rules, relay swimmers who participate in qualifiers are eligible to receive medals. Yu's achievement marks the beginning of what could be a groundbreaking career.
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— ChinaDaily (@ChinaDaily)
Questions raised over mental and physical toll on Yu
However, Chinese schoolgirl Yu's historic feat has also sparked concern within the swimming community. Some experts and observers have raised questions about the mental and physical toll of exposing a 12-year-old to the pressures of elite-level training and international competition.
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At an age when she is still in the early stages of personal development, critics worry that such intense demands could have long-term effects on her well-being, both in and out of the pool.
— WorldAquatics (@WorldAquatics)
Christian Hansmann
, sports director of German swimming, called her participation in Singapore 'questionable'.
"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," said Hansmann, who has children of a similar age, while talking to news agency AFP.
World Aquatics executive director
Brent Nowicki
also acknowledged that the organisation was surprised a swimmer as young as Yu had met the qualifying standards. While Nowicki stated that World Aquatics is 'quite confident in our current safeguarding measures', he admitted that Yu's case could lead to a re-evaluation of the age eligibility rules, given the extraordinary nature of her qualification and the broader implications for athlete welfare.
What's the age limit for World Championships?
According to World Aquatics, the governing body for the sport, swimmers must generally be at least 14 years old to compete at senior-level events - unless they meet the stringent 'A' qualification standards, which effectively removes any hard age limit.
How the young sensation Yu performed at Worlds
Yu competed in four events at the World Aquatics Championships: the
200m butterfly
, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
She delivered standout performances in individual events, setting a personal best of 2:06.43 in the 200m butterfly, narrowly missing the podium by just 0.31 seconds to finish fourth. In the 200m individual medley, Yu again placed fourth, clocking 2:09.21 - a mere 0.06 seconds short of bronze.
Her perseverance paid off in the 4x200m freestyle relay, where, despite only swimming in the heats, she played a key role in qualifying China for the final and earned a historic bronze medal, becoming the youngest medalist in the championship's history.