In the final of the women's 200m butterfly event, Yu Zidi brought home a gold medal for Chinese sports when she finished first with a time of 2 minutes 05 seconds 08, and also broke the ASIAD record set by her compatriot Zhang Yufei earlier, which was 2 minutes 05 seconds 57.
This achievement attracted attention when Yu Zidi was only 13 years and 339 days old. She was born on October 16, 2012 and became one of the youngest faces to make an impression in the ASIAD arena.
The Asian record currently belongs to Liu Zige (China) with 2 minutes 01 seconds 81, set in 2009. Meanwhile, the world record is held by Canadian athlete Summer McIntosh with a time of 2 minutes 01 seconds 65, set on July 4, 2026.
Yu Zidi's journey to swimming began quite accidentally. When she was only 6 years old, she was taken by her father to a water park to avoid the heat in the summer. Her ability was discovered by a coach and encouraged her to pursue professional swimming.
3 years later, Yu Zidi joined the local Swimming Club. She then trained with Li Bingjie - a swimmer who won an Olympic medal and also from Hebei.
In 2024, when she was not yet 12 years old, Yu Zidi won a silver medal in the 400m individual medley at a major tournament with a time of 4 minutes 40 seconds 97, thereby moving very close to the opportunity to compete for a Olympic spot.
A year later, she became the youngest swimmer to win a medal at the World Championships, when she and the Chinese team won a medal in the 4x200m freestyle event. In the other two individual events, Yu Zidi both finished 4th.
At ASIAD 20, a new milestone was set when Yu Zidi first stepped onto the highest podium in the continental arena.
