A 12-year-old has become the youngest athlete ever to win a medal at the World Aquatics Championships, after China claimed bronze in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay in Singapore on Thursday,
Yu Zidi, born in October 2012, earned her place on the podium despite not competing in the final itself. The youngster secured her medal through participation in the preliminary heats earlier in the week.
Her achievement marks an unprecedented moment in the championship's history. The young swimmer had already captured attention on Monday when she narrowly missed a podium finish in the women's 200 metres individual medley final, falling short by a mere 0.06 seconds.
World Aquatics regulations typically mandate that competitors must reach 14 years of age by 31 December in the competition year to participate in senior and junior championship events. The organisation's rules also prevent athletes under this age threshold from establishing junior world records.
Yu Zidi won a bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championship
|Reuters
Yu's participation became possible after she met the A-standard qualifying time during China's National Championships in May. Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics' executive director, expressed surprise at this development.
"Our 'A' standards are so thin, they're so tight that I don't think I actually, in my mind, thought that it was a potential that a 12-year-old earned such a time," Nowicki stated.
The executive acknowledged that the governing body might need to reassess its current policies.
"She's great, I mean, there's a big future there for her. Hopefully there could be good things that could happen out of this, and it could be great," Nowicki said. "Obviously we have to make sure that that's what it is, right? We don't want to tip that balance and go the other way, and we have to be careful about that."
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Yu Zidi won a medal by just 0.06 seconds
|Reuters
Olympic bronze medallist Steve Parry voiced concerns about the potential physical consequences for young competitors.
"To see a youngster go in the events she is doing is on the one hand astonishing, but it does slightly raise the question of how long has she been training hard? What kind of training is she doing? What is that doing to her physically?" he questioned.
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The former Olympian expressed particular worry about the long-term physical effects of intensive training on developing bodies. Parry drew parallels with other sports where early specialisation has proven problematic.
"I worry about what it's doing physically to a child doing that amount of training at that age," he explained. "We've seen it with gymnasts that are pushed too young and the impact it has on their body long-term."
Brent Nowicki was surprised by the inclusion of a 12-year-old in his championship
|Getty
Nowicki indicated that World Aquatics would examine whether additional measures were necessary.
"We'll have a look and see whether we need to go steps further or whether we're comfortable with where we are," he confirmed.