Yu Zidi took everyone short. At only 12 years old, the young Chinese will participate this Thursday in her second final of the World Swimming Championships, in Singapore, on 200m butterfly. An anomaly that fascinates as much as it questions. In the pools and around, everyone is talking about it. Beyond the doping suspicions mentioned in filigree by the French swimmer Lilou Resséncourt, eliminated in the semi-finals of the 200m butterfly, the question arises of the regulations having opened the doors of the competition.
From a technical point of view, Yu Zidi proves that it has its place in the elite of world swimming through the simple expression of its performance. Otherwise, she would not have come close to the podium on 200m 4 swimming. And if she did not swim quickly, she could not have exploited a flaw in the regulation of World Aquatics and should have looked at the Worlds like all teens of her age, on television.
The famous regulation, precisely, provides for a minimum age of 14 for the elite and junior world championships “on the date of December 31 of the year of the competition”. But there is a “but”. “Younger competitors can participate in these competitions if they have at least reached standard B entry time B in the corresponding event. “B -standards are relatively easy to reach, commented Denis Auguin, the French DTN, quoted by The team. It is equivalent not to put it. »»
“Not normal to have this pressure at 12 years old”
The paragraph on minima B came to weaken a regulation dating from the end of the previous century: the case of the Fu Mingxia diver, world diving champion at just 12 years old in 1991, had made a jurisprudence. It had therefore become imperative to protect athletes under the age of 14.
The questions around the Yu Zidi case are ethics, the question of child labor and the future of the swimmer. “It is not normal at 12 years to have this pressure, worried about Lilou, in remarks relayed by RMC Sport. So beyond the physical aspect, this mental aspect can be hard to manage. Denis Auguin’s reflection goes in the same direction.
« “To swim at this level, you have to do a specialization work. At what age has she started to do this type of training I want her to be extremely good, that she has a lot of talent, but for this level of performance, you have to train like an adult. In terms of mental health and personal balance, at that age, I question me. »» »
Cell by the controversy, the general manager of World Aquatics said he was “ready to examine the situation and see if we have to go further or if we are comfortable with our current position”, during a press conference. Pending the fruit of the cogitations of the instances, Yu Zidi will have time to align with a third and last distance to Singapore: the 400m 4 swimming.