At the Shenzhen Universiade Center on Monday, the swimming program at the 15th National Games finished with an unexpectedly youthful surge.

Among seasoned stars and established champions, it was 13-year-old Yu Zidi from Hebei who stole the spotlight, leaving the pool with three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Her performances signaled not only the arrival of a prodigy, but perhaps the beginning of a new era in Chinese swimming.

Yu's most dazzling moment came in the women's 200m individual medley, where she stopped the clock at 2:07.41 and broke an Asian record that had stood for 13 years. She went on to add a silver medal in the women's 200m butterfly, beating Olympic champion Zhang Yufei.

The breakout did not come out of nowhere. Earlier this summer, at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Yu — then only 12 — had already shown that she belonged to the world stage.

She finished fourth in the women's 200m butterfly and both the 200m and 400m individual medley finals. Though she repeatedly brushed against the podium without quite making the step onto it, her performances were enough to establish her as one of the most promising young talents anywhere in the sport.

From that debut to her stunning results at the National Games, Yu now fully embodies the title of Chinese swimming's "future star".

After her record-breaking 200m individual medley on Nov 11, Yu was still trying to process what she had done.

"I'm very happy, very excited," she said. "Before the race, I felt that refreshing my personal best would be enough. I didn't expect to swim this fast."