World Swimming Championship: ‘Emotional’ Yu Zidi, 12, celebrates historic bronze medal

China’s Yu Zidi mentioned she felt “fairly emotional” after the 12-year-old grew to become the youngest swimmer in historical past to win a world championships medal.

Yu swam within the heats of the ladies’s 4x200m freestyle relay however missed Thursday’s (July 31, 2025) ultimate as China claimed bronze behind Australia and the USA in Singapore.

Yu, who was competing within the ladies’s 200m butterfly ultimate on Thursday (July 31, 2025) — ending fourth — acquired a medal as a member of the Chinese language relay workforce.

“It feels fairly emotional, it’s a pleasant feeling,” she mentioned.

Yu has turned heads along with her performances in Singapore.

She certified for Monday’s 200m particular person medley ultimate and completed fourth, lacking out on a medal by simply 0.06sec in what isn’t thought-about her strongest occasion.

She adopted that up with one other fourth within the 200m butterfly ultimate and also will compete within the 400m particular person medley.

Yu, who turns 13 in October, found swimming at age six as a approach to cool off throughout China’s roasting summers.

She has drawn historic comparisons to Denmark’s Inge Sorensen, who at 12 was the youngest-ever winner of an Olympic swimming medal with bronze on the Berlin Video games of 1936.

However not everybody thinks Yu needs to be competing in Singapore.

Some within the sport have raised questions concerning the psychological and bodily impacts of high-level coaching and competing at an age when she remains to be creating as an individual.

Underneath present World Aquatics guidelines, the minimal age is 14 however youthful swimmers can compete on the championships if — like Yu — they’re quick sufficient.