Thirteen Year Old Yu Zidi Won Asian Games Two Hundred Metre Individual Medley Gold in an Asian Record Time
Yu's time of two minutes six point one zero seconds was the second-fastest performance in history, just three tenths outside Summer McIntosh's world record.
China's 13-year-old Yu Zidi won the women's 200m individual medley at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on 21 September 2026 in 2:06.10, an Asian record, Asian Games record and world junior record.
Yu was level with team-mate and 2023 champion Yu Yiting for most of the race before pulling clear on the freestyle leg. Yu Yiting took silver in 2:07.99 and Japan's Mio Narita won bronze in 2:10.40.
The winning time was the second-fastest performance in the event's history. Only Canada's Olympic champion Summer McIntosh has been quicker, with her world record of 2:05.70 set at the 2025 Canadian Trials, leaving Yu 0.30 seconds outside that mark.
Yu split 26.91, 31.96, 37.04 and 30.19 across the four strokes, taking more than a second off her previous best of 2:07.41. She lowered McIntosh's world junior record of 2:06.56, set when winning Olympic gold in 2024, and broke the Asian record of 2:06.82 set by Yu Yiting earlier in 2026.
China continued to dominate the pool on the second night of finals, also winning the men's and women's 50m backstroke and setting an Asian record in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay. Pool swimming at the Games runs until 25 September.