13-Year-Old Yu Zidi is Swimming World’s Female Junior World Swimmer of the Year
Throughout the past year, the spotlight has followed Yu Zidi. When you emerge a 12-year-old phenom who races at the World Championships, attention is impossible to avoid. Is this kid the next big thing in the sport? How will she handle the pressure of a major competition? Is it fair to place a youngster in this situation? These were typical questions asked about Yu, who is the latest in a long line of rising stars from China.
Now that we’re in the final days of the year, answers have been provided to the above questions. Although debate will continue over the righteousness of a pre-teen racing at the global level, the following is clear. Yu, now a 13-year-old, is an unquestioned talent with a promising future. More, she impressively handled the lofty expectations placed upon her.
At the start of 2025, Yu was well known as an up-and-comer, having produced several world-class times ahead of her 12th birthday. But it was at the World Championships in Singapore where Yu, at 12 years old, proved she was one of the sport’s elite stars in her specialty events. Over the course of the meet, Yu earned a trio of fourth-place finishes, just missing the podium in the 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 IM.
For her efforts, Yu was an easy selection as Swimming World’s Female World Junior Swimmer of the Year.
At the World Champs, Yu opened her meet with the 200 medley. After edging into the final as the seventh seed, Yu excelled in her outside lane and used a personal-best time of 2:09.21 to place fourth. The Chinese youngster finished just shy of a medal, as Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey was .06 quicker with a mark of 2:09.15.
Following the 200 IM, Yu again flirted with elimination from the semifinals of the 200 butterfly. This time, Yu was the eighth seed in the final, but she again flourished in an outside lane and clocked 2:06.43 for her second straight fourth-place finish. Another fourth-place effort was logged in the 400 IM, where Yu touched the wall in 4:33.76. He swims in the 200 fly and 400 IM left her .31 and .50, respectively, out of the medals.
As sensational as Yu was at the World Championships, she saved her best performance of the campaign for the Chinese National Games in November. Contesting the 200 medley, Yu – who had since turned 13 – highlighted the meet by setting an Asian record of 2:07.41, which bettered the 2012 standard of 2:07.57, set by Ye Shiwen on the way to gold at the Olympic Games in London.
In the world rankings for 2025, Yu slotted second in the 200 IM, fourth in the 400 IM and eighth in the 200 butterfly. At the World Champs, she earned a bronze medal after handling a leg for China during preliminaries of the 800 freestyle relay.
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