13-year-old Yu Zidi wins 200m butterfly, sets Asian Games record in Tokyo
Yu Zidi, a 13-year-old Chinese swimmer, won the women’s 200m butterfly at the Asian Games 2026 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday, September 20, clocking 2:05.08 to set a new Games record.
Yu finished 3.36 seconds ahead of teammate Chang Mohan, who took silver in 2:08.44, while Japan’s Misa Okuzono claimed bronze in 2:09.97; the previous Games record of 2:05.57 was held by Zhang Yufei from the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago. It is Yu’s first major individual gold, and on swimming’s opening day China won six golds, a silver and two bronzes; the swimming events are being staged at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre even though the Games carry the Aichi-Nagoya name.
After the race Yu downplayed her performance, saying "It was only so-so," and adding that her butterfly technique "is still slightly lacking"; she also told reporters she "I hope I can swim even faster... and I believe I will perform better next time," and in comments to Xinhua she said: “I need to lower my head earlier and improve the movement of my legs.”
Yu was born on October 16, 2012, in Baoding, Hebei Province, and will turn 14 next month. Her entry into the sport began when a coach noticed her at a water park aged six; three years later she moved to Hengshui and joined the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club, where she trains alongside Olympic medallist Li Bingjie. Li, who won the 1,500m freestyle on the same day, said: “I am very happy for her,” and “I was very excited to see her win the gold while I was waiting for my race.” Yu has called Li her "idol" and compared her to an older sister, and she also cites Canada’s Summer McIntosh as a role model.
At 11, Yu swam 4:40.97 in the 400m individual medley to take silver at the April 2024 Chinese Nationals, a time the article notes was 2.44 seconds short of the Olympic qualifying time of 4:38.53. At the 2025 Nationals she recorded 2:06.83 to win the 200m butterfly and 4:35.53 to win the 400m medley, and she took silver in the 200m medley in 2:10.63, a swim that cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard.
Meeting that ‘A’ standard allowed Yu to qualify for Singapore 2025, where she became the second-youngest swimmer ever at the championships after Bahrain’s Alzain Tareq, who was 10 in 2015; Yu finished fourth in three individual events to become the youngest swimmer to reach a world championship final, swam in the heats of the 4x200m freestyle relay and was part of China’s bronze that made her the youngest medallist in the championship’s history. The article notes she became the youngest global medallist in swimming since Denmark’s Inge Sørensen, who was 12 when she won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the 1936 Olympics.
At the National Games in Shenzhen last November Yu won the 200m medley in 2:07.41, breaking the Asian record of 2:07.57 held by Ye Shiwen since 2012; she also won the 400m medley in 4:34.33 and took silver in the 200m butterfly in 2:06.57. She was nominated for the 2026 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year award, and earlier this year beat American Regan Smith in the 200m butterfly at a meet in China, swimming 2:05.71; the article notes Smith is the Paris 2024 silver medallist in the event and that McIntosh holds the world records in Yu’s three main events. The piece also records that ahead of the National Games Yu said the pressure in the 400m medley almost became too much and her coach told her to "believe in yourself," as quoted by AFP.
Yu still has two individual events remaining at the Asian Games — the 200m and 400m individual medley — and the Games run through October 4; the article notes the world championships are scheduled for Budapest next year and the Los Angeles Olympics follow in 2028, and Yu said: “This is to step onto the podium of the Olympic Games,” adding: “The top podium. I train hard day after day. Success never arrives overnight. I am very excited and proud.”
