Schoolgirl's class puts shine on China's worlds

World-class swimmers including Romania's men's double-gold winner David Popovici and Canada's female medley swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey have taken notice of Yu's rise, hailing her performance as a glimpse of the sport's awesome future potential.

"I noticed her. Her 12-year-old times are much faster than mine at that age. When I was 12, I set the national record in the 200m medley, but I was still seven seconds slower than her. She's really fast," Popovici said of Yu's performance on July 29.

Harvey, who held off a surging Yu in the 200m medley final to finish in third, said the big-time experience will, for sure, help Yu's growth under pressure.

"She might have more pressure by the end of the meet, because she's been swimming really well so far. I used to be a junior, and I used to think that it's just gaining experience for the future, and I think going into LA, we're probably going to see her a lot more," Harvey said.

"I think it's good for younger people to just get that experience, and swim without any pressure, because they don't have expectations, it's just a bonus every time they swim faster."

Yu's emergence was the bright spot of a youthful Chinese squad that finished third in swimming's overall medal standings with two golds, six silvers and six bronzes, trailing only the US and Australia.

China's breaststroke star Qin Haiyang, who swept all three titles in the stroke at the 2023 Fukuoka worlds but left the Paris Olympics without an individual gold, returned to form by winning the men's 100m and 200m in Singapore.

Women's distance freestyle contender Li Bingjie opened her campaign by taking silver in the 400m, after edging her idol and American great Katie Ledecky on July 27, followed by another runner-up finish in the 200m on July 30.

Still, the disappointing performance of China's reigning men's 100m free Olympic champion and world record-holder Pan Zhanle has raised concerns of fans over the post-Olympic slump of the 21-year-old star.