Yu Zidi is Swimming World’s Female Junior World Swimmer of Year

13-Year-Old Yu Zidi is Swimming World’s Female Junior World Swimmer of the Year

Throughout the previous 12 months, the highlight has adopted Yu Zidi. When you emerge a 12-year-old phenom who races on the World Championships, consideration is inconceivable to keep away from. Is this child the subsequent huge factor within the sport? How will she deal with the stress of a serious competitors? Is it honest to position a teenager on this scenario? These had been typical questions requested about Yu, who’s the newest in a protracted line of rising stars from China.

Now that we’re within the last days of the 12 months, solutions have been offered to the above questions. Although debate will proceed over the righteousness of a pre-teen racing on the international degree, the next is obvious. Yu, now a 13-year-old, is an unquestioned expertise with a promising future. More, she impressively dealt with the lofty expectations positioned upon her.

At the beginning of 2025, Yu was effectively referred to as an up-and-comer, having produced a number of world-class instances forward of her twelfth birthday. But it was on the World Championships in Singapore the place Yu, at 12 years outdated, proved she was one of many sport’s elite stars in her specialty occasions. Over the course of the meet, Yu earned a trio of fourth-place finishes, simply lacking the rostrum within the 200 butterfly, 200 particular person medley and 400 IM.

For her efforts, Yu was a straightforward choice as Swimming World’s Female World Junior Swimmer of the Year.

At the World Champs, Yu opened her meet with the 200 medley. After edging into the ultimate because the seventh seed, Yu excelled in her exterior lane and used a personal-best time of two:09.21 to position fourth. The Chinese teenager completed simply shy of a medal, as Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey was .06 faster with a mark of two:09.15.

Following the 200 IM, Yu once more flirted with elimination from the semifinals of the 200 butterfly. This time, Yu was the eighth seed within the last, however she once more flourished in an out of doors lane and clocked 2:06.43 for her second straight fourth-place end. Another fourth-place effort was logged within the 400 IM, the place Yu touched the wall in 4:33.76. He swims within the 200 fly and 400 IM left her .31 and .50, respectively, out of the medals.

As sensational as Yu was on the World Championships, she saved her finest efficiency of the marketing campaign for the Chinese National Games in November. Contesting the 200 medley, Yu – who had since turned 13 – highlighted the meet by setting an Asian document of two:07.41, which bettered the 2012 commonplace of two:07.57, set by Ye Shiwen on the way in which to gold on the Olympic Games in London.

In the world rankings for 2025, Yu slotted second within the 200 IM, fourth within the 400 IM and eighth within the 200 butterfly. At the World Champs, she earned a bronze medal after dealing with a leg for China throughout preliminaries of the 800 freestyle relay.