Yu Zidi

Early life

Yu was born in Baoding, Hebei, China, on October 16, 2012. When she was six years old, her father took her to a water park to cool off during the summer. She was noticed by a swim coach, who encouraged her to begin swimming competitively. Three years later, she moved to Hengshui and began training at the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club.

Yu trains with Li Bingjie everyday, an Olympic medalist who is also from Baoding, Hebei. She considers Li her "idol" and has affectionately compared Li to an "older sister". She also considers Summer McIntosh to be a role model.

Career

2024 season

In April 2024, at the age of 11, Yu participated in the Chinese National Swimming Championships, aiming to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In the 400 m freestyle, Yu produced a time of 4:10.73 in the heats followed by a final mark of 4:12.10 to place 7th in the final. In the 400 m individual medley, she finished with a time of 4:40.97 to win the silver. Her time was just about two seconds away from the qualifying time of 4:38.53.

2025 season

In May 2025, at the age of 12, Yu participated in the Chinese National Swimming Championships. In the 200 m individual medley, Yu swam with a time of 2:10.63, winning the silver and easily clearing the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard needed to qualify for the World Championships. She also set the record for the fastest time ever for a 12-year-old in that discipline. In the 200 m butterfly, Yu delivered a performance of 2:06.83 to win gold and qualify for the World Championships. In the 400 m individual medley, Yu crushed a lifetime best of 4:35.53 to take the gold and easily clear the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard.

Based on her results at the Chinese Nationals, Yu was chosen to participate in the World Championships. While World Aquatics typically requires swimmers to be 14 years old to attend, Yu was eligible because her times met the association's 'A' standard. Following this, she attracted worldwide media coverage, including comparisons to young champion swimmers Summer McIntosh (who won gold at the World Championships at 15), Katie Ledecky (who won Olympic gold at 15), and Kyoko Iwasaki (who won Olympic gold at 14). She is the second-youngest swimmer to ever appear at the World Aquatics Championships, after Bahrain's Alzain Tareq, who debuted at age 10 at the 2015 edition.

In her first event of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Yu qualified for the final of the 200 m individual medley. She became the youngest swimmer in history to compete in a World Championship final. In the final, she finished in fourth place with a time of 2:09.21, just 0.06 seconds behind bronze medalist Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada. In the 200 m butterfly, Yu placed fourth as well with a time of 2:06.43, just 0.31 seconds behind Australia's Elizabeth Dekkers. Yu swam in the heats for the Chinese team in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, helping them qualify to the final. Although she was replaced in the final by Liu Yaxin, she shared in the team's bronze medal win, becoming the youngest swimmer to win a medal at the World Aquatics Championships. The Sydney Morning Herald further identified her as the youngest swimmer to win a global championship medal since 12-year-old Inge Sørensen's bronze in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Yu finished in Singapore with a third fourth-place finish in the 400 m individual medley, her time of 4:33.76 just falling half a second outside Jenna Forrester of Australia and Mio Narita of Japan who tied at 4:33.26 for silver.

In November, at the age of 13, Yu competed at the National Games of China in Shenzhen. In the 200 m individual medley, she won the gold medal in a time of 2:07.41, which broke the Asian record of 2:07.57 set by countrywoman Ye Shiwen in 2012. In the 200 m butterfly, she finished with a time of 2:06.57 to win silver. In the 400 m individual medley, Yu clocked 4:34.33 for the gold.