By Michael Church, OCA Media
Tokyo, Japan, September 23, 2026: Yu Zidi powered to victory in the women’s 400 metres individual medley to claim her third Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 gold medal, narrowly missing Ye Shiwen’s 16-year-old Asian record at Tokyo Aquatic Centre on Wednesday.
The 13-year-old Yu, who was not born when Ye set the continental mark to win gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, touched in 4 minutes 28.56 seconds in a new Asian Games record time.
Yu, gold medallist in the 200 individual medley and the 200 butterfly, missed the Asian record by 0.13 seconds but the Baoding-born swimmer was almost four seconds clear of second placed 15-year-old Ke Wenxi, also from China, with Mio Narita of Japan in third place.
“Very happy,” Yu Zidi said upon the completion of her Asian Games programme. “I gained a lot from these Asian Games, but there were also some regrets. I'll go back and keep reviewing what I didn't do well, and I hope I can do better next time.
“For example, today's result was just a little short of the record. But since I still improved my performance, I think it's okay.”
Chinese swimmers were in dominant form again, claiming six of the seven gold medals on offer in the fourth finals session to take their tally to 21 golds with two days of the competition remaining.
Defending champion Zhang Yufei suffered a surprise loss in the women’s 100 metres butterfly when her Chinese team mate Yu Yiting timed her finish to perfection to touch 0.03 seconds ahead of the six-times gold medallist from the 2022 Asian Games.
Zhang made a strong start and was clear of the pack at the turn but, as her stroke rate dropped in the final metres, Yu Yiting capitalised to win in 56.41 seconds. Hong Kong China’s Natalie Kan Cheuk Tung finished third.
“At the national selection trials and championship meet, I lost to sister Fei by 0.03 seconds,” said Yu Yiting. “At that time, I think I probably felt the same way she feels now.
“A difference of 0.03 seconds is tiny, maybe just the width of a fingernail, just a tiny little bit. Back at the championship meet, I also thought, ‘Why does it feel like I touched first?’ That's the kind of feeling it gave me. So that's competitive sports. Anything can happen.”
Peng Xuwei added the women’s 100 metres backstroke title to the 200 metres gold she won on Tuesday, finishing more than half-a-second ahead of Japan’s Rio Shirai with Kim Seung-won from Korea in third.
Japan’s Shoon Mitsunaga broke the Chinese dominance by winning the men’s 100 metres butterfly, emerging from lane one to finish ahead of China’s Xu Fang in 50.56 seconds and set a new Asian Games record. Defending champion Katsuhiro Matsumoto was third.
“I'm the type of athlete who tends to get overly tense when I'm nervous,” said Mitsunaga. “If I pay too much attention to the other swimmers, I can tighten up and lose my rhythm.
“Being in lane one allowed me not to worry so much about the swimmers around me and instead focus on my own race and movements. I was able to do that successfully, and I think it contributed to this result.”
The Chinese completed another successful session by winning the 4 x 100 mixed medley relay as Xu Jiayu, Dong Zhihao, Zhang Yufei and Yu Yiting surged clear in 3 minutes 40.38 seconds to leave Japan and Korea in the silver and bronze positions respectively.