Desk Report,
Chinese swimmer sets record by winning medal at age 12
Yu Jidi is only 12 years old. Most people at this age are fully focused on their studies. However, this Chinese schoolgirl has set a new world swimming record in the pool.
Chinese swimmer sets record by winning medal at age 12
Yu Jidi is now the youngest medalist at the World Swimming Championships. China won the bronze medal in the relay event of the competition in Singapore, and Yu Jidi has written her name in this extraordinary achievement as part of that team.
Although 12-year-old Yu Jidi did not play in Thursday’s final, she swam in the heat of the women’s 4x 200m freestyle relay earlier in the week. She qualified for a medal because of her participation there. According to the rules, if the team wins a medal in the relay, the swimmers who participated in the heat also get the status of winning a medal. So Yu Jidi won a medal without participating in the final, and that too as the youngest in history. Australia won the gold in this event and the silver went to the United States. China came in third, behind these two countries. Although Yu Jidi set a record at the World Swimming Championships, the world record is not hers. Denmark’s Inge Sorensen won bronze in the 200m breaststroke a month before she turned 12 at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. And Yu Jidi is now 12 years and 9 months old. In response to setting a world swimming record, Yu Jidi said, “It’s a very emotional feeling, I feel very good.” School-going Yu Jidi, who is going to celebrate her 13th birthday next October, could have won a medal on Thursday. But she narrowly lost in the women’s 200m butterfly. She finished the competition in fourth place. Earlier, in the individual middle final last Monday, Yu Jidi missed out on a medal by just 0.06 seconds. She finished in fourth place there too.
Earlier in May, Yu Jidi also set a record among 12-year-olds in the 200m individual middle. He finished the swim in 2 minutes 10.63 seconds, and World Aquatics called him a “sensation” on social media after such an extraordinary performance.
