Chinese schoolgirl, 12, becomes the youngest-ever World Swimming Championships medallist after picking up relay bronze – as governing body weighs up rule change
A 12-year-old swimmer has made history by winning a bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
Yu Zidi made headlines earlier this week after missing out on a podium place by just 0.06 of a second in the women’s 200 metres individual medley final on Monday.
However, the Chinese pre-teen – who was born in October 2012 – will be going home with a medal after China secured bronze in the relay final on Thursday.
Yu was not involved in the final that saw Australia edge out United States for the gold, but qualified for a medal after swimming for her country in the heats of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay earlier this week.
World Aquatics typically requires swimmers to be 14-years-old by December 31 in the year of competition to be eligible for its senior and junior World Championship events. At just 12-years-old, Yu is also too young under World Aquatics rules to hold a junior world record.
Yu, however, was able to participate in Singapore having achieved the A-standard qualification time at the Chinese National Championships in May.
Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi made history by winning a medal at the World Aquatics Championships at just 12 years old
Yu came agonisingly close to a podium finish earlier this week but narrowly missed out on a medal
World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki admitted that he hadn’t considered the possibility of a 12-year-old being able to qualify to compete.
‘Our “A” standards are so thin, they’re so tight that I don’t think I actually, in my mind, thought that it was a potential that a 12-year-old earned such a time,’ he said.
‘I feel quite good about where we are with our safeguarding approach in our sport.’
Nowicki admitted however that the organisation may need to reevaluate their policy going forward.
He continued: ‘She’s great, I mean, there’s a big future there for her. Hopefully there could be good things that could happen out of this, and it could be great.
‘Obviously we have to make sure that that’s what it is, right?
‘We don’t want to tip that balance and go the other way, and we have to be careful about that.’
‘We’ll have a look and see whether we need to go steps further or whether we’re comfortable with where we are.’
Now the 12-year-old will collect a bronze – despite not appearing in the final – after China came third in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay
Yu’s involvement has caused some backlash with some questioning whether she is too young for elite sport
Yu’s involvement at the highest level of the sport at such a young age has divided opinion in the swimming community.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Steve Parry – who won bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens – insisted a 12-year-old competing in elite sport could have detrimental consequences for their development.
‘To see a youngster go in the events she is doing is on the one hand astonishing, but it does slightly raise the question of how long has she been training hard?’ Pickering said.
‘What kind of training is she doing? What is that doing to her physically?
‘I worry about what it’s doing physically to a child doing that amount of training at that age.
‘We’ve seen it with gymnasts that are pushed too young and the impact it has on their body long-term.’
