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12-year-old Yu Zidi became the youngest swimmer to medal at the World Aquatics Championships on July 31 in Singapore
Yu did not compete in the final with Team China, but qualified for the the bronze medal after swimming in the heats that day
American swimmer Alex Walsh called Yu “phenomenally talented” with a “really bright future” ahead of her
At just 12 years old, Yu Zidi took home a bronze medal in the World Aquatics Championships, becoming the youngest swimmer to medal in the competition’s history.
China won bronze in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay on Thursday, July 31, in Singapore. Yu, according to the BBC and The New York Times, did not compete in the final relay but still qualified for the team’s medal because she swam a leg in the heats that day.
The United States took silver and Australia won gold on Thursday. The minimum age to compete in the championships is 14, with exceptions made for younger swimmers whose times meet a certain standard of excellence.
The last time a 12-year-old medaled at a major international swimming competition was in 1936, when Inge Sorensen of Denmark won bronze in the 200-meter breast stroke at the Olympics, per the BBC.
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Yu was just shy of winning an individual medal at the championships, coming in 0.06 seconds behind bronze medalist Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada in the women’s 200-meter medley final. After the final, 25-year-old Harvey complimented Yu.
“I think going into L.A., we’re probably going to see her a lot more,” Harvey said, according to Yahoo Sports.
Alex Walsh, who took gold in the medley final, called Yu “phenomenally talented” and predicted the young swimmer has “definitely got a really bright future” in the sport.
Wu Zhizun/Xinhua via Getty
Yu Zidi swims in Singapore on July 31, 2025
“It feels quite emotional, it’s a nice feeling,” Yu ,who will turn 13 in October, said,
Yu’s success at such a young age has sparked some controversy about the impact her training will have. On BBC Radio 5 Live, four-time world champion swimmer Karen Pickering called her success “astonishing” but expressed concern for how hard the girl is training.
“To see a youngster go in the events she is doing is on the one hand astonishing, but it does slightly raise the question of how long has she been training hard?” Pickering said.
Pickering added that she worries about “what it’s doing physically to a child doing that amount of training at that age,” and the effects hard training has had on gymnasts “that are pushed too young.”
Steve Parry, an Olympic bronze medalist, argued the “positive” impact of Yu’s participation on the BBC segment.
“It’s a young girl who is 12 years of age and it’s right we are asking questions, but I got spanked by a 15-year-old Michael Phelps in Sydney and he went on to be the greatest swimmer we’ve ever seen,” Parry said.
Comparing Yu to former silver medalist Sharron Davies and nine-time gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky, Parry added: “We have got to take care of their mental health and make sure they aren’t being pushed too much physically.”
Read the original article on People
