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."

The following day, Yu returned for the 200 IM. The race was decided in the final 50 meters. Teammate Yu Yiting, the defending Asian Games champion, led for much of the race, and Yu Zidi was 0.03 seconds behind at the final turn.

But Yu Zidi surged ahead in the freestyle leg to win in 2:06.10, lowering the Asian record by 0.72 seconds.

"Since it was the last 50 meters, I just had to give it everything I had. I didn't think about anything else. I just closed my eyes and pushed through," she said.

"I believed I had the ability to come back and catch up. We practice situations like this a lot in training."

Her coaches' pre-race instructions also proved decisive. "The details we discussed today were things I might not get right in training, so I needed to pay more attention to them. I can actually do those things, but sometimes I do not remind myself to do them. Going through them again in my head can help," she said.

"I do not think about anything else. I just think about the little details and my movements."

Her final event, the 400 IM, came Wednesday. Yu Zidi won in 4:28.56, breaking the Asiad record of 4:32.97 set by Ye Shiwen at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. She finished just 0.13 seconds outside Ye's Asian record of 4:28.43, set at the 2012 London Olympics.

"I came just short of the record, but I improved my time, so I think that is pretty good," Yu said.

However, it didn't take her long to default to her self-critical nature.

"I am very happy. I have gained a lot from these Asian Games, but there are also some regrets. I will go back and review what I did not do well. Hopefully, I can do better next time."

Her performance has also added another chapter to a strong Chinese tradition in the 200 IM.

Ye won the event at the 2012 London Olympics at 16. Yu Yiting has emerged as another leading Chinese medley swimmer, with her and Yu Zidi pushing each other to constantly improve.

"She is a strong opponent and she pushes me to keep working hard," Yu Zidi said of Yu Yiting.

Yu Yiting added: "We have to keep breaking the Asian record before we can dare to think about the world record. Only then can we have a chance to challenge McIntosh or other outstanding swimmers at the 2028 Olympics."

Veteran Wang Shun, who has competed in five Asian Games, also sees the value of the competition between the two young swimmers.

"They are always chasing each other. If there is only one person, progress will be slower. When there is a rival, you demand more from yourself," Wang said.

From Ye's 2:07.57 set in 2012, over the past year, the Asian record in the women's 200 IM has fallen three times — Yu Zidi's 2:07.41 at last November's National Games, then Yu Yiting's 2:06.82 at the National Swimming Championships in June and, now, Yu Zidi's 2:06.10 in Nagoya.

Yu Zidi's rise has been rapid, but its foundations were laid years ago.

At age six, she first took an interest in swimming after visiting a water park with her father. Coach Li Chao noticed her natural feel for the water: while other children were afraid, Yu Zidi could float by herself and move smoothly through the water.

At nine, she entered a local swimming club in Hengshui, Hebei province and began training with the provincial team after reaching the national first-class athlete standard. Her coaches designed a balanced program across four strokes, with the IM eventually becoming one of her strengths.

Kang Jing, manager of the swimming club, recalls seeing Yu Zidi, then about 10, quietly doing handicrafts on her own.

"Handicrafts like that require a great deal of patience and concentration. At that time, I felt that this child had a calmness beyond her age," Kang said.

"She told me that she gets nervous before races, just like anyone else, but the nervousness doesn't affect her performance. Being able to turn nervousness and anxiety into motivation is not something every child can do. For an athlete, strong mental qualities can be a talent, too," said one of the club's coaches.

At the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, at age 12, Yu Zidi became the youngest medalist in the history of the competition, helping China to bronze in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay. She also reached three individual finals.

Yu Zidi isn't just an Asian champion swimmer, of course. She is also a ninth-grade student at Baoding No 17 Middle School, where an individualized curriculum helps her keep up with her studies while balancing the demands of elite training and competition.

Beyond the pool, she said she wants to be "a child who is very much her age".

But, at the tender age of 13, Yu Zidi is already being measured against Olympic champions and world records.

She, however, remains focused on something much smaller and more immediate — the next race, the next technical detail, the next chance to swim a little faster.