So, who's Yu Zidi? At the surface and on her cap, that's simple enough after the week gone by at Chinese Championships: she's the fastest pre-teen swimmer in history - and by some! A cartoon hound hunted with her all week as she chased down her first Chinese senior swimming title and claimed tickets in two events for her debut World Championships in Singapore this July.

There's never been a 12-year-old male at World titles, for obvious reasons, nor, indeed a competitive 12-year-old among females. Yu, known to teammates at the Hebei Provincial Swim as "Little Sister", is about to change all that.

When she clocked 2:06.83 in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday to claim her first Chinese senior swimming title at the tender age of 12, after having qualified for Singapore in the 200IM on 2:10.63, Yu broke the mould of prodigy progress in youth swimming.

At 11, she could swim a 400IM in 4:40, and will not turn 13 until October. All her times this year and last are simply sensational, unique, indeed, in swimming history. Yu will seek a third ticket to Singapore in the 400IM on the final days of the championships in Shenzhen on Saturday evening. Given her progress in the two 200m events ( 2:14 down to 2:06.8 on 'fly) ... brace yourselves!

There's more to come...