Yu Yiting wins the women's 400m individual medley gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. [Photo/WeChat account: quzhoufb]

Yu Yiting, an 18-year-old swimmer from Quzhou, won the women's 400m individual medley gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sept 27. She finished the race in 4 minutes and 35.44 seconds, leading by a large margin.

Yu Yiting is a versatile and powerful swimmer, especially in butterfly and freestyle. She had already taken the lead at the start of the race.

The event marked a generational change in Asian swimming, as Yu Yiting and other young Chinese and Japanese swimmers dominated the field. They are all under 20 years old and have become the new stars of Asian women's medley swimming.

The women's 400m individual medley is an individual all-around event that requires strong swimming skills and physical fitness. It consists of four segments: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.

The world record is held by Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh, who clocked in at 4 minutes and 25.87 seconds in April 2023. The Asian record and the Asian Games record are both held by Chinese legend Ye Shiwen, who set them at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, respectively.

China's first world swimming champion, Lin Li, also participated in the event. Lin won gold at the 1991 World Swimming Championships.

Yu Yiting competes in the women's 400m individual medley at the Hangzhou Asian Games. [Photo/WeChat account: quzhoufb]