Who is Yu Zidi? All you need to know about China's 13-year-old medallist at Asian Games 2026
Yu Zidi still has the 200m and 400m individual medley at the Asian Games 2026.
Yu Zidi won the women’s 200m butterfly at the Asian Games 2026 on Sunday, September 20, clocking 2:05.08 to set a new Games record.
The 13-year-old finished 3.36 seconds clear of teammate Chang Mohan, who took silver in 2:08.44. Japan’s Misa Okuzono took bronze in 2:09.97. It is Yu’s first major individual gold medal.
The record swim in Tokyo
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Zhang Yufei held the previous Games record (2:05.57). She set this record three years ago at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The swimming events are being held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, even though the Games carry the Aichi-Nagoya name. China won six golds, a silver and two bronzes on swimming’s opening day.
A teenager played down the swim. “It was only so-so,” a smiling Yu said after receiving her medal. She added that her butterfly technique “is still slightly lacking”.
“I hope I can swim even faster… and I believe I will perform better next time,” she continued.
Speaking to Xinhua, she identified areas for improvement, saying: “I need to lower my head earlier and improve the movement of my legs.”
She has two individual events left: the 200m and 400m individual medley.
Related: India at Asian Games 2026 – Swimming schedule, squad, & live streaming details
Where does she come from?
Yu was born on October 16, 2012, in Baoding, Hebei Province, so she turns 14 next month. When she was six, her father took her to a water park to cool off.
A swimming coach spotted her and encouraged her to take up competitive swimming. Three years later, she moved to Hengshui and joined the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club.
She trains with Li Bingjie, an Olympic medallist from Baoding. Yu calls Li her “idol” and has compared her to an older sister.
Li won the 1,500m freestyle on the same day. “I am very happy for her,” Li said. “I was very excited to see her win the gold while I was waiting for my race.”
Yu also names Canada’s Summer McIntosh as a role model.
The early breakthroughs
At 11, Yu swam 4:40.97 in the 400m individual medley at the April 2024 Chinese Nationals to win silver. That was 2.44 seconds short of the Olympic qualifying time of 4:38.53.
A year later, at the 2025 Nationals, she recorded 2:06.83 to win the 200m butterfly and 4:35.53 to win the 400m medley. She also swam 2:10.63 in the 200m medley for silver, which cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard.
A World Championships debut like no other
World Aquatics generally requires swimmers to be at least 14 years old, but athletes who meet the ‘A’ standard may be granted an exemption. Yu qualified for Singapore 2025 that way, becoming the second-youngest swimmer ever at the championships after Bahrain’s Alzain Tareq, who was 10 in 2015.
She finished fourth in three individual events:
- 200m individual medley: 2:09.21, just 0.06 seconds off bronze
- 200m butterfly: 2:06.43, 0.31 seconds behind Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers
- 400m individual medley: 4:33.76, about half a second outside the tied silver time of 4:33.26
She became the youngest swimmer to reach a world championship final. She also swam the heats of the 4x200m freestyle relay, and China’s bronze made her the youngest medallist in championship history.
She became the youngest global medallist in swimming since Denmark’s Inge Sørensen, who was 12 years old when she won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the 1936 Olympics.
Records and awards
At the National Games in Shenzhen last November, Yu won the 200m medley in 2:07.41. That performance broke the Asian record of 2:07.57, previously held by Ye Shiwen since 2012.
She also won the 400m medley in 4:34.33 and took silver in the 200m butterfly in 2:06.57. She was nominated for the 2026 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award.
How she compares with the best
Earlier this year, Yu beat American Regan Smith in the 200m butterfly at a meet in China, swimming 2:05.71. Smith is the Paris 2024 silver medallist in this event. McIntosh, who won that Paris final, holds the world records in Yu’s three main events. The gaps to Yu’s best times:
- 200m butterfly: McIntosh 2:01.65, Yu 2:05.08 (3.43 seconds)
- 200m medley: McIntosh 2:05.70, Yu 2:07.41 (1.71 seconds)
- 400m medley: McIntosh 4:23.65, Yu 4:33.76 (10.11 seconds)
The pressure and what comes next
Yu has been open about the strain. Before the National Games, she said the pressure in the 400m medley almost became too much, and her coach told her to “believe in yourself”, as quoted by AFP.
Her rapid rise has also prompted debate in swimming about the physical and mental demands on very young athletes.
Her targets are clear. The world championships are in Budapest next year, and the Los Angeles Olympics follow in 2028.
“This is to step onto the podium of the Olympic Games,” Yu said. “The top podium. I train hard day after day. Success never arrives overnight. I am very excited and proud.”
How old is Yu Zidi, and why is she allowed to compete?
She was born on October 16, 2012, so she is 13 and turns 14 next month. World Aquatics usually sets a minimum age of 14 for international championships, but younger swimmers can compete if they meet the ‘A’ qualifying standard, which Yu did in 2025.
What record did she set at the Asian Games?
She won the 200m butterfly in 2:05.08, a new Asian Games record. It beat Zhang Yufei’s 2:05.57 from Hangzhou by 0.49 seconds.
What’s next for Yu Zidi?
She still has the 200m and 400m individual medley at the Asian Games, which end on October 4. After that come the World Championships in Budapest next year and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
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