China’s 12-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi will join Olympic champion Summer McIntosh in the semi-finals of the women’s 200 metres individual medley after qualifying in the heats on her world championships debut in Singapore on Sunday.
There was no stage fright for the schoolgirl from China’s northern province of Hebei as she posted a time of two minutes and 11.90 seconds, a second off her personal best, to finish 15th in the heats.
Yu made the swimming world sit up and take notice at national championships in Shenzhen in May by winning the 400 IM and 200 butterfly titles, as well as coming second in the 200 IM, all with qualifying times for Singapore.
Faster than Canadian McIntosh at the same age, Yu’s potential is enormous and her ability to compete with the world’s best will be closely watched over the coming days.
World record holder McIntosh is the overwhelming favourite to win the 200 IM, though she qualified second in the heats in 2:09.46 behind Australia’s Tara Kinder.
Sunday’s evening session will feature a showdown between McIntosh and American great Katie Ledecky for the 400 freestyle gold.
