Teen Titan comes of age

At the Paris Olympics in 2024, 17-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh won gold in the women's 200m butterfly, 200 individual medley and 400 IM.

Two years on, 13-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi has delivered the same medal haul on a continental stage at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, winning gold in all three events.

In the 200 IM final, Yu clocked 2:06.10 to break the Asian record. She was 0.46 seconds faster than McIntosh's winning time in Paris and just 0.40 seconds off the Canadian's world record.

The clock has, in a sense, placed two prodigies from different countries and different generations in the same imaginary lane.

Yet Yu does not carry herself like a champion who has already arrived. After each victory, she quickly turns to what she can improve.

Following her 200 butterfly victory, she said: "It was only so-so. I hope I can swim even faster. I improved my time by 0.9 seconds here, and I believe I will perform better next time."

She was similarly self-critical about her technique.

"My technique is still slightly lacking. I need to lower my head earlier, reach further forward and improve the movement of my legs. Those are all areas that I need to work on."