By Retta Race on SwimSwam
CHINESE LONG COURSE INVITATIONAL
- Thursday, December 31st – Sunday, January 3rd
- Shijiazhuang City, China
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Prelims #1 Recap/Finals #1 Recap
- Prelims #2 Recap/Finals #2 Recap
- Prelims #3 Recap
- Results via Asian Media
The first of two newly-introduced high-level Chinese domestic swimming competitions wrapped up this morning in Shijiazhuang City. Swimmers to the tune of Xu Jiayu, Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun have been putting up some impressive swims, with the majority also then headed to the second meet slated for Guangzhou from March 4th to March 7th.
However, on the final day of the competition, it was teenager Yu Yiting who turned heads while competing in the women 400m IM event, hitting a new World Junior Record on her eventual path to gold.
The World Junior Record was actually thrown down last night in the prelims of the 400m IM, with the 15-year-old producing a monster mark of 4:35.94. That outing checked in as by far the fastest of her career, overtaking the 4:40.48 she logged at the National Championships last September.
As such, the young star’s 4:35.94 outing represented her first time under the 4:40 barrier and she accomplished it with an over-4 second clearance. In doing so, her time also overtook the reigning World Junior Record of 4:38.53 Spain’s Alba Vazquez Ruiz threw down en route to taking the World Junior title last year in Budapest.
For her part, Yu raced at the senior World Championships in Gwangju last year at just 14 years of age at the time (birth date September 5, 2005). She ultimately placed 11th in the 200m IM (2:11.60) and 14th in the 400m IM (4:42.52).
Although splits are not available at the time of publishing, Yu’s time here in Shijiazhuang now renders the young athlete not only as the newly-minted World Junior Record holder but also as China’s 5th fastest performer to date.
China’s All-Time Women’s 400m IM Performers
- Ye Shiwen – 4:28.43 WR, 2012
- Zheng Rongrong – 4:32.20, 2012
- Li Xuanxu – 4:32.91, 2012
- Zhou Min – 4:33.50, 2013
- Yu Yiting – 4:35.94, 2020
- Chen Yan – 4:36.66, 1998
- Li Lin – 4:36.73, 1992
With the finals at this meet taking place in the morning to mimic the timing as this summer’s Olympic Games, Yu was off her eye-popping performance from last night’s prelims, but still under the 4:40 threshold once again to grab gold. She nabbed the top prize in 4:37.62 to reap the 2nd fastest time of her young career.
This 15-year-old phenom is also the world’s 2nd fastest performer of the season.
2020-2021 LCM Women 400 IM
McKeown
4:32.73
| 2 | Yu Yiting |
CHN | 4:35.94 | 01/02 |
| 3 | Sakiko Shimizu |
JPN | 4:36.77 | 12/04 |
| 4 | Emma Weyant |
USA | 4:40.84 | 11/13 |
| 5 | Ageha Tanigawa |
JPN | 4:41.33 | 12/04 |
Just for additional perspective, Yu’s 4:35.94 outing would rank her as the #2 female 15-16-year-old swimmer all-time in the United States. Elizabeth Beisel owns the National Age Record in 4:32.87 from her 2008 Olympic Trials debut, but Yu would rank ahead of Janet Evans, Ella Eastin, Becca Mann, and Dagny Knutson with what she achieved at this domestic meet.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 15-Yr-Old Yu Yiting Takes Down Vazquez’s 400 IM World Junior Record
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