Qin claims gold, Yu wins hearts at aquatics meet

Chinese swimmers stole the show at the World Aquatics Championships on Monday, as child prodigy Yu Zidi left everyone stunned with her phenomenal talent and the country's "breaststroke king" Qin Haiyang reclaimed his crown in a magnificent manner.

The second day of the world championships in Singapore saw plenty of medal-winning and record-smashing feats, and yet the proudest moment for Team China wasn't celebrated on the podium.

Instead, the global sports community joined Chinese fans in marveling the arrival of the world's fastest-ever 12-year-old, male or female, in an individual medley race, as Yu refreshed her personal best to clock 2 min 9.21 sec to finish fourth in the 200m individual medley final.

Summer McIntosh, world record-holder and reigning Olympic champion from Canada, clinched gold with a time of 2:06.69, Alex Walsh of the United States (2:08.58) won silver, and McIntosh's compatriot Mary-Sophie Harvey (2:09.15) took home bronze.

As China's youngest-ever swimmer at the worlds, Yu lived up to the pre-tournament hype generated by her 2:10.63 qualifying mark achieved at the national trials in May, which was back then the all-time world-leading result among her peers.

Although a wafer-thin margin of six hundredths of a second from a podium finish at her maiden worlds might seem like a pity, Yu remained composed.

"I think I did OK," she said in an interview with China Media Group after the final.

"The result wasn't particularly satisfying. I just wanted to give my best performance and tried to finish on the podium. It was close, but not enough. Apparently I need to keep working hard."

Yu is set to race again in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday, before challenging McIntosh in the 400m individual medley on Sunday.

Citing the untapped potential in Yu, silver medalist Walsh envisioned a remarkable career ahead for the Chinese sensation.

"She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it will be interesting to see how she takes this meet," Walsh said.

Earlier in the day, three-time breaststroke world champion Qin got Team China off to a scintillating start by coming back from a performance decline last year and reclaiming the 100m title. The 26-year-old clocked 58.23 to edge out reigning Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy by a margin of 0.35. Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan finished third in 58.88.

To come back on top in the breaststroke sprint marked a rejuvenation for Qin, who swept all three individual breaststroke titles (50m, 100m and 200m) at the 2023 worlds to reign supreme in the category. However, he suffered a disappointing medal-less exit from the 2024 Paris Olympics, hampered by injuries and lack of consistency.

"I feel quite emotional right now after coming back from a very tough period last year to finish on top of the world again," said Qin, who finished 7th and 10th in 100m and 200m breaststroke events, respectively, in Paris.

"Now that I am back on track, I really appreciate everyone who's supported me when I was struggling during the setbacks."