By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2025 CHINESE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 17-24, 2025 Shenzhen, China LCM (50 meters) Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap/Day 6 Recap/Day 7 Recap ResultsThe final day of the 2025 Chinese National Swimming Championships brought another monster swim at the hands of 12-year-old Yu Zidi, once again blowing our minds with what we thought was possible.
Racing in the final of the women’s 400m IM this evening, Yu crushed a lifetime best of 4:35.53 to take the gold. Not a typo – 4:35.53 from the 12-year-old.
Runner-up status went to Chang Mohan who touched in 4:37.33 followed by Li Bingjie who earned bronze in 4:38.66.
Just like that, Yu becomes China’s 8th-swiftest performer in history with tonight’s head-turning performance.
Splits for Yu’s incredible achievement are below
Entering this competition, Yu’s lifetime best rested at the 4:40.97 established last year…..as an 11-year-old. That means tonight’s outing marks her first-ever foray under the 4:40 barrier and she did so by hacking over 5 seconds off of that previous best-ever swim.
She now ranks 5th in the world on the season and easily cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 4:43.06 needed for Singapore.
2024-2025 LCM Women 400 IM
Summer CANMcIntosh03/074:26.982EmmaWEYANTUSA4:33.9505/023Ellen Walshe IRL4:35.3205/024MioNARITAJPN4:35.3903/235Mary-sophieHARVEY CAN4:35.7305/09View Top 26»For perspective as to how otherworldly Yu’s 4:35.53 is, the U.S. National Age Group Record for 11-12-year-old girls sits at the 4;50.70 Kayla Han established in 2021. The 11-12-year-old boys’ national benchmark rests at the 4:42.54 Richard Poplawski put on the books in 2019.
Yu’s performance crushes both of those standards as well as exceeds the 13-14-year-old girls’ U.S. NAG of 4:39.76 Becca Mann put up in 2012.
Summer McIntosh of Canada, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the women’s 400m IM, holds the Canadian national age record at 4:50.21 for the 11-12-year-old age group, a time from 2019.
Furthermore, Yu’s time tonight would have made her the 6th-place finisher at the 2023 World Championships and the top podium finisher at the lesser-attended 2024 World Championships in Doha.
Remarkably, Yu’s 4:35.53 would have placed her 4th in last year’s Olympic Games final, just over half a second outside of the bronze medal.
The youngster has already qualified for this summer’s World Championships in the women’s 200m IM and 200m fly, posting nearly-beyond-comprehension marks of 2:10.63 and 2:06.83, respectively.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Another One: 12-Yr-Old Yu Zidi Fires Off 4:35.53 400 IM To Close Chinese Nationals
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