Yu Zidi: Asian Games Champion and Pressure of Media

The 13-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi has ripped up the script at the Asian Games, yet the teenager insists the real pressure does not come in the pool.

“Interviews are way harder than the race,” she admitted, still more uneasy with microphones than with world-class opposition.

Yu’s 2min 06.10sec in the individual medley was not just a gold-medal swim; it was the fastest time recorded anywhere in the world this year. Only Canada’s Summer McIntosh has ever gone quicker, and Yu finished just 0.40sec shy of McIntosh’s world record.

She turns 14 next month. The times belong to a seasoned champion; the mannerisms still to a shy schoolgirl.

In the mixed zone, she has done everything she can to avoid the spotlight that now chases her. After her latest stunning performance, she tried to slip past the waiting reporters before finally being persuaded to stop and talk. When she did, the words came far more slowly than her strokes.

“How do I answer this question? Can you teach me? You just want me to say what I feel?” she asked the media in Chinese this week, looking for guidance rather than glory.

The cameras rolled. The questions kept coming. Yu giggled, half-embarrassed, half-overwhelmed.

Asked if facing the press was the toughest part of her new life as a star, she did not even try to hide it.

“Every time I just want to float off somewhere else,” she replied, laughing at the thought.

In the water, there is nowhere to hide and she does not need to. On dry land, with the world suddenly wanting a piece of her, the fastest swimmer of the year is still learning how to stay afloat.