13-year-old Chinese swimmer wins first major gold at Asian Games

China’s Yu Zidi (R) celebrates alongside second-placed USA's Regan Smith on the podium after winning the women's 200m butterfly final at the China Open Swimming Championships in Shenzhen, in China’s southerm Guangdong province on March 19, 2026.

China’s 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi smashed the Asian Games record as she won gold in Japan on Sunday, two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics.

Yu, who turns 14 next month, romped home in the women’s 200m butterfly in 2min 05.08sec to shave almost half a second off the time set by China’s Zhang Zufei three years ago in Hangzhou of 2:05:57.

Her time in winning her first major gold medal was 3.36 seconds faster than China’s Chang Mohan, who took the silver.

It was the first of three individual events Yu is scheduled to compete in at the Asian Games, where swimming events are being held in Tokyo.

Yu became the youngest swimming world championships medallist in history last year when she won bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

She also finished a whisker outside the medals in fourth in three world individual events.

She has embellished her growing reputation this year, notably with a victory over multiple American Olympic champion Regan Smith in March.

The schoolgirl with the pixie haircut is expected to be a serious contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

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But she has spoken of struggling to deal with the heavy load placed on her.

During the build-up to last year’s China National Games, she said the pressure of wanting to win the 400m medley nearly became too much.

Her coach told her to persevere and “believe in yourself,” she said.

Yu went on to win four medals at the National Games.

Some in the swimming world have questioned the mental and physical impact of high-level training and competing on Yu at such a young age.

Under World Aquatics rules, the minimum age for international championships is 14, but exceptions can be made for younger swimmers if they are fast enough.

AFP

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