Yu Zidi won a World Championship medal at the age of 12. © APA/afp / OLI SCARFF

12-year-old medalist causes controversy

In the debate surrounding the youngest World Championship medalist in swimming history, twelve-year-old Yu Zidi from China, the world governing body wants to reconsider its rules.

August 01, 2025

From: dpa

"I didn't think I'd be having this conversation, but I think we need to step back and ask ourselves whether they're appropriate," said Brent Nowicki, executive director of World Aquatics, at the World Championships in Singapore, before Zidi's historic victory. Zidi won the bronze medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Singapore.

The twelve-year-old swam in the preliminary round and was then eliminated from the final. Nowicki added: "Is this really the right way to move forward, or do we need to do other things? Set up different guardrails? Should we allow it under certain conditions? I don't know the answer."

Nowicki described Yu as "great" and emphasized that the federation is committed to protecting young athletes. She had already narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth in both the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley.