National Games: swimmer Yu Zidi, 13, breaks record set before she was born to win gold
Yu becomes Asia’s fastest ever in 200m individual medley, while Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yufei also swim to gold in Shenzhen
Yu Zidi is only just into her teens, but the young swimming sensation is already a National Games champion – emphatically so, after smashing an Asian record set before she was born to win the women’s 200 metres individual medley on Tuesday.
She gave notice of her promise at the summer’s world championships in Singapore, collecting a relay medal and threatening the podium in her individual events.
And Tuesday’s medley final in Shenzhen saw her storm to gold for Hebei in two minutes and 7.41 seconds, slicing 0.16 seconds off the continental and Chinese bests of Ye Shiwen, set 13 years ago.
Yu turned 13 only 26 days earlier. Ye’s old mark of 2:07.57, an Olympic record and good enough for gold at the London 2012 Games, preceded her birth by 2½ months.
A mere 0.06 seconds had separated Yu from a medal in this event in Singapore, but she had a 0.89 buffer for gold here, ahead of Zhejiang’s Yu Yiting.
Earlier, Qin Haiyang and Zhang Yufei maintained their status among China’s best. The men’s 100 metres breaststroke was dominated by Qin as he finished first for Shanghai in 58.98 seconds, ahead of teammate Zheng Yinghao in 59.47 and Hubei’s Yan Zibei in 59.49.