12-Yr-Old Yu Zidi Cranks Out 2:08.52 200 Fly With Chinese Nationals Final Yet To Come

2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2025 Chinese National Swimming Championships continued tonight from Shenzhen and we were treated to another significant swim at the hands of 12-year-old Yu Zidi.

After firing off a monster performance of 2:10.63 in the women’s 200m IM last night to qualify for the World Championships, Yu followed up with a mark of 2:08.52 to take the second seed out of the women’s 200m fly semi-finals.

Taking the top spot in the semi was Yu Liyan who touched in 2:08.43 so Yu Zidi‘s outing was just .09 off that mark to be in the running for a World Championships roster slot in the event.

Yu split 28.59/33.16 (1:01.75)/33.25/33.52 (1:06.77) to check in with a time that rendered her just outside the list of China’s top 10 performers of all time. Her 2:08.52 performance overtook her previous personal best of 2:09.86 notched as an 11-year-old at last August’s Chinese Summer National Championships.

For perspective, the reigning U.S. National Age Group Record for 11-12-year-old girls rests at the 2:15.02 Cassidy Bayer established in 2012. Additionally, the 11-12-year-old boys’ benchmark sits at 2:11.07 from Dean Jones in 2018. Yu surpassed both of these by a significant margin to now rank 14th in the world on the season.

Yu Zidi‘s Performances Thus Far at Chinese Nationals

  • 54.78 100m freestyle, relay leadoff
  • 2:10.63 200m IM
  • 1:59.32 200m free
  • 2:08.52 200m fly

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Swimfan27
16 minutes ago

How is that possible

Swim fan
38 minutes ago

She’s only 6 seconds off my 2 fly time and she’s 12 and Im 19 💀💀 GG

lilac
Reply to  Swim fan
16 minutes ago

are you summer mcintosh or liu zige cus those are the only two who are about 6 seconds faster then what she wnet

arrow
Reply to  lilac
14 minutes ago

they prob mean yards time

Swim fan
Reply to  lilac
7 minutes ago

Im a guy 😭

fly is the best
1 hour ago

deleted

Last edited 1 hour ago by fly is the best
Irrelevant swim productions
2 hours ago

So is she going 2:06 in the final wtf 💀

Sue Shi
2 hours ago

WELL YES!

2016
3 hours ago

Holy moly. She would have nearly medaled at Doha. Plus she really wouldn’t have been that far off the Olympic final.

SwimGuy
3 hours ago

comment image

Nora
3 hours ago

I still remember 12-year-old Wang Yichun was faster than 12-year-old Phelps in 100 fly. Where is that girl now?

Last edited 3 hours ago by Nora
MARKCAT
Reply to  Nora
3 hours ago

3rd in 100 fly

Carlo
Reply to  Nora
3 hours ago

She,s living her life?

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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