Chinese prodigy, 12, fractions of a second off medal at World Championships

Times

6 days ago

The 12-year-old Yu Zidi produced one of the most remarkable swimming performances in history by finishing just 0.06sec from a medal at the World Championships.
In a sport famed for legends who emerge in their teens, Yu is especially young but the Chinese announced her arrival as a prodigious talent by coming fourth in the 200m individual medley final in Singapore on Monday.
Yu is the first pre-teen to race at the World Championships and the youngest of 55 women who have swum inside 2min 10sec for the 200m medley. The average age for members of that club is 21.
A 12-year-old has not competed at the highest level for almost 100 years — Denmark's Inge Sorensen won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the Berlin Games of 1936. Sorensen remains the youngest-ever Olympic medal winner.
Undeterred by the narrow miss, Yu, who shaved more than a second off her personal best to finish in 2:9.21, was already thinking about her other events this week, the 200m butterfly on Wednesday and the 400m medley on Sunday.
'I will try to get on the podium. But I feel like that's probably impossible. Still, I want to give it a shot. I was one step short today, so I will keep working hard,' Yu said.
Yu certainly made an impression on her fellow competitors. 'She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and it'll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims,' said Alex Walsh, 23, the silver-medal winner from the United States.
There have been many outstanding teenage swimmers but generally they do not make their mark before the age of 15. Shane Gould in 1972 and Katie Ledecky and Ruta Meilutyte in 2012 were all Olympic champions at 15, while Michael Phelps was 15 when he first raced at the Olympics.
Gold in Yu's race went to Summer McIntosh, the Canadian 18-year-old superstar, who was a triple Olympic champion at 17.
In the modern era Yu's versatility and speed are unprecedented for a 12-year-old and she is officially too young to hold a world junior record, which she could claim only after turning 14.
Born in Baoding, Hebei Province, Yu started training at six. 'After four years of systematic training, she reached the level of a national first-category athlete and was accepted into the Taihua Jinye Swimming Club training centre in Hengshui, where the Hebei Province second team trains,' Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, reported.
Yu was soon placed in practice lanes next to the likes of Olympic and world relay champion Li Bingjie and two other national team members. 'She is an Olympic champion, I swim in lane zero, she in lane one — that makes me nervous,' Yu said.
By 11, she had clocked times that would have won her several British junior titles in age groups three and even six years older (butterfly) than her. In some events, she would be challenging for places at the Games in Britain's Olympic trials.
Yu's precocious talent earned her the nickname 'Xiaohaijie' — 'the little big girl'.
'I found it quite strange at first, but I really like the nickname,' Yu said. 'At the same time, it also puts pressure on me. I'm afraid of doing poorly and disappointing people.'
Her regime already includes high-altitude training in Yunnan and she covers 10km in the pool every day for at least six days of the week. Her routine and workload have raised eyebrows in many leading nations but Yu has credited her school for striking the right balance.
'Because everything is available here — training, meals, accommodation, lessons — I can fully concentrate on training during the day and go to school in the evening without distractions,' she said.
Yu has conceded that the pressure to succeed can be overwhelming but said that it was her 'duty' to find a way through. As trials for the World Championships loomed large in April, she recalled how daunting the goal of winning a medal at the Chinese Championships felt.
'I almost wanted to give up,' Yu said. 'I was full of emotions and no longer wanted to train. Coaches, team doctor, parents, my first coach — everyone talked to me. I thought back to my beginnings and realised how important swimming is to me. I can't give up.'
Still there are concerns about the pressures put on a 12-year-old. One leadership figure who has worked closely with champions, world-class sports scientists, physiologists and psychologists, said: 'When you have a talented young athlete who stands out at the age of 12, it's about ensuring you do the right thing for the long term, not the long-term development in the sport. 'That means taking things at a sensible pace, introducing the right type of training, the right type of competition at the right moment for them.
'There are plenty of athletes around the world who were identified at 12 years old, who could have been better at 13, 14, 15 and then taken through on a steady pace so that they're in the best physical shape between 20 to 26 years old. They're still in love with the sport, healthy and being able to do what they want and need to do at the right time of their life.'