Day 2 of the 2025 National Swimming Championships: Yu Yiting sweeps gold medals in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley; 12-year-old Yu Zidi earns a spot at the World Championships.

On May 18, the finals of four events were held at the 2025 National Swimming Championships. Zhejiang swimmer Yu Yiting swept both women's titles, including a thrilling victory over Zhang Yufei in the 100m butterfly. Meanwhile, Qin Haiyang claimed the gold medal in the men's 100m breaststroke, and Chen Jun'er clinched the top spot in the men's 50m butterfly.

Women's 100m Butterfly Medal Ceremony

Following her impressive performance at the National Spring Swimming Championships in Qingdao last March, where she entered 11 events and clinched seven medals, Yu Yiting continued her competitive streak this time around, entering seven events once again. That evening, she dominated the women’s 100m butterfly, finishing in an outstanding 57.30 seconds to claim the gold medal, and later secured another victory in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:08.67, sweeping both golds on the second day of competition. Meanwhile, Zhang Yufei edged out Yu Yiting for silver in the 100m butterfly, touching the wall in 57.39 seconds, while Wang Yichun rounded off the podium with a bronze finish in 57.80 seconds.

Yu Yiting said: "I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance—let's just say I managed to overcome the fear in my heart. After all, I’ve always believed that Sister Yu Fei is the fastest in this event (women’s 100m butterfly), and deep down, I was really intimidated. Although I didn’t secure the victory with a particularly impressive result this time, I’m still determined to keep pushing myself and improving in the future."

Zhang Yufei flashes her signature smile.

Zhang Yufei narrowly missed the gold medal by a margin of just 0.09 seconds, finishing as the runner-up. Reflecting on this latest national competition—her second major event since making her comeback at the National Championships in Qingdao back in March—Zhang shared: "I think I did pretty well already. Actually, I wasn’t entirely happy after swimming in yesterday’s semifinals, because my time didn’t meet my expectations. But honestly, the coaches helped me a lot. After making the necessary adjustments, I realized I need to get used to starting fresh—since I’ve chosen to begin again from scratch, there’s no point in comparing myself to the old Zhang Yufei."

Zhang Yufei became the first athlete at this year's swimming championships to achieve the World Championships A-standard, clocking a time of 58.32 seconds in the women’s 100m butterfly heats held on the morning of the event’s opening day. Her impressive performance earned her first-place qualification for the semifinals, where the A-standard is set at 58.33 seconds. In the semifinals, Zhang posted an even faster time of 57.94 seconds, finishing second among the 16 competitors. Later in the final, she pushed herself further, slicing off another half-second to touch in 57.39 seconds—but unfortunately, she couldn’t quite outpace her younger rival, Yu Yiting, who was seven years her junior. As a result, Zhang settled for second place overall.

At the March Spring Swimming Championships, Zhang Yufei finished fifth in the 100m butterfly, admitting she’ll use this result as a stepping stone to kick off a new Olympic cycle. Zhang Yufei’s personal best of 55.62 seconds was set at the 2020 National Swimming Championships—currently the national and Asian records. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), she clinched the silver medal with a time of 55.64 seconds, narrowly missing out on gold to Canada’s celebrated Chinese-Canadian star, Maggie MacNeil. Meanwhile, at the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships, Zhang claimed the gold with a winning time of 56.12 seconds. Fast forward to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she secured bronze with a time of 56.21 seconds. Today, MacNeil—who is two years younger than Zhang—is already retired, but Zhang continues to push herself relentlessly.

Qin Haiyang during the competition

In the men's 100m breaststroke final, Qin Haiyang delivered a steady performance to clinch the gold medal in 58.61 seconds—his fourth time breaking the 59-second barrier this season, securing his third consecutive title in the event. Jiangsu’s young athlete Dong Zhihao finished second with a time of 59.06 seconds, improving his personal best yet again after his semifinal swim—but he admitted he still fell short of his own expectations. Hubei’s Sun Jiajun rounded out the podium in third place, touching the wall in 59.31 seconds.

Men's 100m Breaststroke Medal Ceremony

In the men's 50m butterfly final, Chen Jun'er clinched the gold medal with a time of 23.41 seconds, while Sun Jiajun narrowly missed out on the top spot, taking home the silver with a margin of just 0.05 seconds. Xu Fang and Shen Jiahao both secured bronze medals, finishing in 23.70 seconds. This event has already been confirmed as part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Men's 50m Butterfly Medal Ceremony

Women's 200m Individual Medley Award Ceremony

The biggest highlight of the evening was young Yu Zidi. Born on October 16, 2012, she clocked a time of 2:12.52 in the women's 200m individual medley semifinal, easily breaking the A standard. In the final, she even bettered her performance, finishing second with a time of 2:10.63—and at just 12 years and 7 months old, she earned herself a spot at the World Championships.

Swim fans familiar with the sport have likely already noticed the name Yu Zidi over the past couple of years. At the 2023 Spring Swimming Championships, the 10-year-old and 5-month-old Yu Zidi made it into the top 10 of the women’s 400-meter individual medley. In the 2024 World Aquatics Year-End Rankings (short course), Yu Zidi ranked in the top 50 across several events—specifically in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, and 400-meter individual medley, where she placed 10th overall. In the long-course 400-meter individual medley, she ranked 37th (4:40.97), just behind Yu Yiting (27th, 4:39.60).

Yu Zidi at last year's National Summer Swimming Championships

Special focus: The men's 200m freestyle semifinals, held earlier today, saw Pan Zhanle, Wang Shun, and Sun Yang all advancing smoothly. The final will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m.

The schedule for May 19 is as follows: