China's 13-Year-Old Swimming Sensation Yu Zidi Says Interviews Are Harder Than Races

China's 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi has quickly become one of the biggest stories of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

But while she appears remarkably composed in the pool, the teenager admitted that there is one thing she finds more difficult than racing: post-race interviews.

“Interviews are much harder than competitions,” Yu said after winning her second gold medal at the Asian Games. Her honest comment quickly attracted attention after she struggled to respond to a series of questions from reporters in the mixed zone.

On September 21, Yu won the women's 200m individual medley in Tokyo with a time of 2:06.10, setting a new Asian record.

The result came just one day after she won the women's 200m butterfly title in 2:05.08, breaking the Asian Games record.

Yu is only 13 years old and is one of the youngest Chinese athletes competing at the Games. Her performance in the pool, however, has shown little sign of inexperience.

In the 200m individual medley final, Yu faced fellow Chinese swimmer Yu Yiting, the defending Asian Games champion and a strong rival.

Yu Yiting led during the early stages of the race. After the butterfly leg, she was 0.14 seconds ahead, and she maintained the advantage through the backstroke and breaststroke legs.

The race changed during the final 50 meters.

Yu Zidi had reduced the gap to just 0.03 seconds at the 150-meter turn before producing a powerful freestyle finish to overtake her teammate and win the gold.

Her time of 2:06.10 was the second-fastest performance in history, only 0.40 seconds behind the world record of 2:05.70 held by Canada's Summer McIntosh.

The victory also marked Yu's second Asian record in the event within a year.

In November 2025, she clocked 2:07.41 at China's National Games to break the Asian record that had stood since the 2012 London Olympics.

The record later changed hands again in June 2026, when Yu Yiting posted 2:06.82 at the Chinese National Swimming Championships.

Three months later, Yu Zidi reclaimed the record in spectacular fashion in Tokyo, cutting another 0.72 seconds from the continental best.

Yet when reporters asked whether she expected to break the Asian record, Yu gave a surprisingly simple answer.

She said the result was unexpected and that she had not known before the race how fast she would swim.

When asked about the final 50 meters, she explained that she simply followed the technical details emphasized by her coach and gave everything she had left.

“Don't hold anything back. Just go all out,” she recalled.

Her responses in the mixed zone were very different from her performance in the pool.

Faced with long questions, Yu sometimes gave only a few words. At one point, she asked a reporter how she was supposed to answer a question and even jokingly asked if they could move on to another one.

Eventually, she politely waved goodbye and said she needed to leave and relax.

The contrast has made Yu particularly popular with spectators.

In the pool, she has already demonstrated the composure required to challenge Asian records. Outside the pool, she still looks like what she is: a 13-year-old teenager who is learning how to deal with the enormous attention surrounding her.

Yu has now won two individual gold medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Her first came in the women's 200m butterfly on September 20, when her 2:05.08 performance broke the Games record. Her second came the following day in the 200m individual medley, where she set the Asian record.

Despite the growing attention, Yu appears determined to keep her focus on swimming.

She said that during competitions, she tries not to think too much about outside pressure and instead concentrates on technical details.

That approach may be particularly important for a teenager whose career is only beginning.

Yu still has plenty of room to improve, and she has openly acknowledged areas of her technique that need work. Her teammate Yu Yiting has also described her as a strong opponent who can motivate both swimmers to keep improving.

For now, Yu Zidi's story at the Asian Games is about more than two gold medals and a new Asian record.

It is also about the contrast between an extraordinarily confident young athlete in the water and a shy 13-year-old standing in front of a group of microphones.

She may already be comfortable racing against the clock.

Learning how to race through the questions may take a little longer.