China’s 13-year-old Yu Zidi breaks Asian Games record to win 200m butterfly gold in Tokyo

China’s 13-year-old Yu Zidi broke the Asian Games record to win the women’s 200m butterfly in Tokyo on Sunday, September 20, 2026. She finished in 2min 05.08sec, a time recorded two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics.

Yu, who turns 14 next month, shaved almost half a second off the Asian Games mark of 2:05.57 set by China’s Zhang Zufei three years ago in Hangzhou. The gold in Tokyo was her first major individual title at the Asian Games, with swimming events staged in the Japanese capital.

Her winning time was 3.36sec faster than China’s Chang Mohan, who took the silver. The victory represented the first of three individual events Yu is scheduled to compete in at the Asian Games.

Yu became the youngest swimming world championships medallist in history last year when she won bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team. At those world championships she also finished fourth in three individual events.

This year Yu bolstered her profile with a victory over multiple American Olympic champion Regan Smith in March. The schoolgirl with the pixie haircut is expected to be a serious contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

She has spoken publicly about struggling to cope with the heavy load placed on her, saying the pressure of wanting to win the 400m medley nearly became too much during the build-up to last year’s China National Games. Her coach told her to persevere and "believe in yourself", she said, and Yu went on to win four medals at the National Games.

Some in the swimming world have questioned the mental and physical impact of high-level training and competing on Yu at such a young age. Under World Aquatics rules, the minimum age for international championships is 14. Exceptions can be made for younger swimmers if they are fast enough.

Yu is scheduled to contest two more individual events at the Asian Games in Tokyo.