Yu Zidi of China is only 12 years old and will race at the world swimming championships later this month in Singapore.That’s amazing.But her age is only part of the picture.Not only is she very young, but her times in three events this year are among the best in the world. And here’s the kicker. Those times would have been very close to medals in last year’s Paris Olympics.Again, she’s 12. That’s a sixth- or seventh-grade student depending on the school system. Not yet a teenager.“I think it’s a great story. I don’t know where it will lead,” Greg Meehan, the national team director for the American squad in Singapore, told The Associated Press.As promising young swimmers do, Yu is clocking personal bests almost each time she competes. Her PBs are more than just confidence boosters, they put her in sight of records, medals and stardom. Yu has qualified in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys, and the 200 butterfly. She could win a medal in all three.Her time of 2 minutes, 10.63 seconds in the 200 IM at the Chinese championships in May was the fastest ever by a 12-year-old swimmer — male or female — according to World Aquatics, the global governing body of the sport.That was only the start. Her time of 2:06.83 in the 200 butterfly in the same meet would have placed her fourth in last year’s Paris Olympics. It was the fifth-fastest time in the world this year and would have been good enough for gold in the 2024 worlds.Again, Yu is 12 years old.To cap off the national championships she swam 4:35.53 in the 400 IM, the fifth-fastest time of the year …
