2024 CHINESE SHORT COURSE NATIONALS
- Tuesday, September 24th – Sunday, September 29th
- Wuhan, China
- SCM (25m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap/Day 6 Recap
- Results via Asian Media & Here
The 2024 Chinese Short Course Nationals took place from Tuesday, September 24th through Sunday, September 29th in Wuhan, China.
With several Asian Records dropping by the wayside, including in the men’s 50m breast and women’s 100m breast, some readers may have missed a monster swim by 11-year-old Yu Zidi.
Yu, whose birth date is unknown aside from that it’s ‘October 2012’, fired off a time of 4:30.21 to take the women’s 400m IM national title.
Yu beat the field by well over a second, with Zheng Huiyu posting 4:32.07 as the runner-up and Qu Jianing logging 4:33.67 for bronze.
Splits for Yu’s 4:30.21 included:
| Distance | Split |
| 100m | 1:00.17 |
| 200m | 1:08.67 |
| 300m | 1:19.73 |
| 400m | 1:01.64 |
This outing rendered Yu the 7th-fastest Chinese performer of all time and by far the youngest. The national record sits at the 4:23.33 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen put on the books as a 16-year-old at the 2012 Short Course World Championships.
For additional perspective, Yu would have finished in 5th place at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
You can read more about this rising star via previous posts:
- Watch 11-Yr-Old Yu Zidi of China Rip 2:09.86 LCM 200 Fly
- 11-Yr-Old Yu Zidi Crushes 2:09.86 200 Fly, 2:12.57 200 IM at Chinese Summer Championships
- A Review of 11-Yr-Old Yu Zidi’s Results at 2024 Chinese Nationals
she was born on October 16, 2012
Birth date unknown. Okay.
I was looking at some previous articles and I found out she joined the national training centre at age 9. That feels way to early and just prone to exploitation.
Coming from the UK and thinking about all the awful incidents that we’ve had here (Ellesmere titans), and then thinking about how lax Chinese safeguarding rules are likely to be compared to the UK, it does raise serious questions.
Exploitation?
You think you can become a world class swimmer at age 15, after taking your first ever swimming classes at age 14?
My Guy, swimming is a sport where you have to start at a young age to be elite at. Same with gymnastics.
You don,t start training at these two sports at a young age and sorry, it,s over for you. You ain,t going to be an olympian. This is the case all over the world, not just in China.
How old do you think ed moses was when he started swimming year round?
Ed Moses is one person out of thousands of swimmers hoping to become an Olympian.
How common is Ed Moses situation?
At what age did Michael Phelps start swimming?
I believe you’re conflating two topics/issues.
The argument wasn’t WHEN she started swimming… it was WHERE/HOW she was being TRAINED. Kids can/may/could/should start early as possible for the purposes of life skills/safety. Should they show an affinity for the sport and enjoy it, then introduce them to competitive swimming. Perhaps all of this happens between ages 1/2 and 6 or 7 years old. So, yes, generally speaking kids who begin training early in life, have the possibility of success (certainly earlier), but who knows if that will translate into success later? Often times, kids get sequestered into the sport too early and then really dislike it later. Swimming specifically, isn’t a sport for the faint of heart when it comes… Read more »
China is not a country’s where everyone has a private pool in their backyard. Hence, the need for formal training at institutions that have the facilities fir a swimmer to succeed at a younger age.
When should she have joing the national team? Age 15.
Before age, 15 Where exactly will she be improving her skills?
I have no definitive answer to your sarcastic questions other than to say that 9 years old is very young to move a child away from their family if that is what this young lady has had occur.
I have been to China, for swimming. There are a multitude of regional and local 25M and 50M pools in which kids can train locally/semi-locally.
Two things can be true at the same time. Train early, but not leave your family at age 9 or 8 or 10 which seems reasonable and what many other countries do with club swimming (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.) OR send your pre-pubescent child away to be raised exclusively by strangers/coaches in a hyper-scrutinized… Read more »
She wasn’t moved away from her family. The article never said that.
And yes, training early and improving your skills early is essential in swimming to be at Olympic level later in life, this is just the sad reality of the sport. It is even more essential in a sport like gymnastics.
She joined the national team at the age of 9. This doesn’t mean she was moved away from her family. The article never said she was kidnapped from her family.
She was never shipped to a boarding school or a sports school as far as we know. In China, parents have a lot of autonomy on their Child,s schooling.
How many local 25 meter and 50 meter… Read more »
“Yu, whose birth date is unknown aside from that it’s ‘October 2012’,”
Yeah, that’s all I needed to know.
Don’t be silly!
Quite early to say she could be the next big thing but then again these times are just bordering on fast for anyone, let alone a age grouper
Summer McIntosh swam 4:50.21 SCM 400IM as a 12-year old. That’s 20 seconds off this time. It is NOT possible nor remotely plausible that an 11-year old could swim these times. Chance of this being real…ZERO
She is either much older and/or medically enhanced. Likely both. Sadly, I’m sure she isn’t aware of the medical (aka vitamins) part.
Summer McIntosh was a 5:03 at the same age. 33 seconds faster is crazyy
USA 11-yr old LCM record converted is 4:39. It is 4:18.99 SCY which converts to 4:47 SCM
Not crazy. Impossible.
holy cow
Nope.