Chinese prodigy Yu Zidi has made sports history at just 12 years old, becoming the youngest swimmer ever to reach a World Championship final and secure a medal. Her record-breaking performance stunned Singapore, setting a new global benchmark in competitive swimming.
China’s Yu Zidi etched her name in history by becoming the youngest swimmer ever to compete at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and she didn’t stop there. At just 12 years old, she reached the final of the women’s 200 IM and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal by 0.06 seconds. Despite finishing fourth, Yu became the youngest swimmer to qualify for a World Championship final.
Before Yu’s sensational performance, no 12-year-old had ever broken into the top eight of a World Championships final. The previous youngest finalist was Canadian Allison Higson, who at age 13 made the finals of the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the 1986 Championships. Higson also held the record as the youngest medalist, claiming bronze in the 100 breaststroke at 13 years and 158 days.
Yu joins a rare club. Including her, only 12 female swimmers under 14 have ever reached a World Championships final. The most recent before her was Li Zhesi in 2009, who made the final in a relay event. But no individual female under 14 had qualified for a final since Higson, 39 years ago.
In the 21st century, the youngest swimmer to reach an individual final before Yu was Italy’s Benedetta Pilato, who won silver in the 50 breaststroke in 2019 at 14 years and 191 days. Among male swimmers, the youngest to make a final was Soviet Valentin Parinov, who finished 8th in the 1500 freestyle in 1973 at age 14 years and 84 days.
Yu’s moment of glory came just days later when she competed in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay heats. China went on to finish third in the final, and as a heat swimmer, Yu received a bronze medal making her the youngest swimmer in history to win a World Championships medal.
Yu beat Higson’s record by nearly eight months. The three youngest World Championship medalists after Yu are all Canadian, which emphasizes the extraordinary nature of Yu’s accomplishment on the global stage.
On the men’s side, the youngest medalist in World Championships history remains Australian Ian Thorpe, who won double gold in 1998 at just over 15 years old. Thorpe became the youngest male swimmer to win a world title.
Including the Olympic Games, only one other swimmer has medaled at age 12: Denmark’s Inge Sorensen, who won bronze in the 200 breaststroke at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin at just 12 years and 24 days. Sorensen remains the youngest individual Olympic medalist across all sports.
Yu Zidi’s stunning rise signals a new era for youth in sport and proves that age is no barrier to breaking records and making waves on the world stage.
