World Championships: 12-Year-Old Yu Zidi Narrowly Misses Podium in 200 IM
One of the leading storylines heading into the World Championships was the presence of Yu Zidi, the Chinese 12-year-old who has captured the attention of the sport. Would she continue to cut large chunks of time from her personal bests? Could she contend for the podium against the best athletes in the sport?
We now have answers to both questions.
The pre-teen was spectacular on Monday night in Singapore, just missing a medal in the 200-meter individual medley. Producing a time of 2:09.21 in the final, Yu finished .06 behind Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey, who captured the bronze medal in 2:09.15. En route to her fourth-place finish, Yu posted a time that was more than a second faster than her personal best entering the World Champs. She also confirmed that, despite her youth, she is not intimidated by competing on the international stage.
In the first global final of her career, Yu split 27.43 to sit in third place after the opening butterfly leg. She remained in third after the backstroke leg, which she covered in 32.92. The youngster’s weakness on breaststroke was evident in her split of 38.69, which dropped her to seven through the 150-meter mark. But a closing split of 30.17 enabled Yu to move on the field, and nearly catch Harvey. Only gold medalist Summer McIntosh was faster than Yu on freestyle, and by just .01.
Yu initially emerged as a world-class performer as an 11-year-old and her performances earlier this year at the Chinese Nationals, after turning 12, made her a threat at the World Champs. The 200 IM was viewed as Yu’s third-strongest event in Singapore, behind the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley. Consequently, she figures to be a contender for a medal when she tackles her other events later in the meet.
To put Yu’s skill set into perspective, her time in the 200 IM from Monday is more than nine seconds faster than the United States’ National Age Group girls’ record (2:18.69) in the 11-12 classification. More, Yu is three seconds faster than the NAG record for 11-12 boys, which stands at 2:12.80.
Without question, Yu’s competitors are impressed by her precocious talent.
“She’s obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age,” said American Alex Walsh, the silver medalist in the 200 IM. “I think it’ll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims she has, because she’s definitely got a really bright future.”
