13-Year-Old Yu Zidi Edges Fellow Youngster for 400 IM Title at Chinese National Games
The final night of the eight-day Chinese National Games concluded on Monday, with 13-year-old Yu Zidi finishing off her sweep of the individual medley events. After breaking the Asian record in the 200 IM on the second day of action, Yu claimed victory in the 400 individual medley, behind a time of 4:34.33. The youngster was pushed in the final, as 14-year-old Chang Mohan went 4:34.59 for second place.
Yu emerged on the international scene at last summer’s World Championships, where she finished fourth in both medley events and the 200 butterfly as a 12-year-old. The Asian record she set at the Chinese National Games only amped up the expectations for her future, especially with the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles on the horizon.
The time Yu managed to win on Monday night was not far off her best in the event. At the World Championships, she recorded a time of 4:33.76. Meanwhile, China has reason for major optimism in the event, as Chang isn’t much older than Yu and now ranks seventh in the world for 2025.
Already the titlist in the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle, 18-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo added the 1500 freestyle crown to his collection. The versatile youngster, who broke the world junior record in the 400 free at the start of the meet, prevailed over 30 laps in 14:52.73. That time was comfortably ahead of the 14:56.08 registered by Fei Liwei. Zhang also made his first trip inside 1:45 in the 200 freestyle during the week, which certainly provided momentum en route to the 2026 campaign.
Veteran Xu Jiayu opened the final session of the meet by completing a sweep of the backstroke events. This time, the 30-year-old defeated the field in the 50 backstroke, as his time of 24.40 was nearly a half-second faster than the 24.80 by runnerup Wang Zicheng. Xu won the 100 and 200 backstroke events earlier in the meet, with his 100 time in the 52-low range.
The final of the women’s 50 freestyle saw World Championships medalists Wu Qingfeng and Cheng Yujie place first and second with strong performances. Wu, the silver medalist in the event in Singapore, got to the wall in 24.21, which was .02 quicker than the 24.23 of Cheng, who was the bronze medalist at the most recent edition of the World Champs. Third place was shared by Lyu Yue and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, who turned in matching swims of 24.84.
In the women’s 50 breaststroke, Tang Qianting just missed going under the 30-second barrier, as she clocked a mark of 30.00, which was good for victory over Yang Chang (30.11). Meanwhile, Wang Shun completed a sweep of the individual medley events with a first-place showing in the 400 IM. Wang, the Tokyo Olympic champ in the 200 IM, won the 400 medley in 4:14.90.
