Chinese swimmer, 12, wins world championship bronze medal in S'pore

A Chinese swimming prodigy, 12, has won a bronze medal at the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore.

Yu Zidi earned the medal by being a member of China's 4x200-meter freestyle relay team which took bronze in the final on Jul. 31, BBC and South China Morning Post reported.

Yu herself did not swim in the final, but played a role in their achievement as she swam in the morning heats and helped China qualify third fastest.

Yu then watched as her teammates came in third in the final with 7 min 42.99 sec.

Australia took home gold in 7 min 39.35 sec with the USA earning silver in 7 min 40.01 sec.

"It feels quite emotional, it's a nice feeling," Yu said of winning the medal, as quoted by BBC.

Turning heads in Singapore

Yu has put in impressive performances in Singapore, but has narrowly missed out on individual glory so far.

The 12-year-old finished fourth in the 200m individual medley final on Jul. 28, missing out on a medal by just 0.06 seconds.

She also had a fourth-place finish in the 200m butterfly final.

Yu will next be competing in the 400m individual medley on Aug. 3.

Too young?

Yu's participation in the World Aquatics Championships, at her young age, has divided opinion.

Official rules set a minimum age of 14 for swimmers, although exceptions can be made for younger competitors who have set sufficiently fast qualifying times.

Yu was permitted entry as her times met the association's 'A' standard, BBC reported.

Brent Nowicki, the executive director of World Aquatics, said the governing body would relook at its age-limit rules.

Nowicki told AP News that they would have to consider if the rules are "appropriate", whether this is the right way going forward, or "other guardrails should be put up".

On the other hand, Yu has drawn comparisons to Denmark swimmer Inge Sorensen who won an Olympic swimming medal at the age of 12, Japan Times reported.

Sorensen took home bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the 1936 Berlin Games, making her the youngest swimmer to win an Olympic medal.

Top image from Weibo & China Press