Combined World Championships: Yu Zidi Tops Rankings in Two Events After Asian Games Star Performance
Most of the world’s top swimmers wrapped up their 2026 long course seasons by mid-August following the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and Pan Pacific Championships, but the Asian Games took place last week in Tokyo. The competition provided swimmers from that continent another chance at shaking up the world rankings in advance of a return to long course racing on the global level at next year’s World Championships in Budapest.
No one took advantage of that opportunity like Yu Zidi. The 13-year-old made her international debut at last year’s World Championships and finished third in her three main events, within a half-second of the podium on all three occasions and just six hundredths away from bronze in the 200 IM. Now, Yu has taken further steps in her career, and she has secured the top spot in a pair of events among all major international competitions this summer.
Yu shined at the Asian Games, winning gold in the 200 butterfly and both individual medley events. Her 200 IM time of 2:06.10 was the second-fastest time in history, behind only Summer McIntosh’s world record.
Before that, she swam an Asian Games record of 2:05.08 in the 200 butterfly, which ranks as the top time from any major meet this year and second-quickest overall for 2026, again behind a McIntosh world record. Yu concluded her meet by becoming the eighth woman in history to crack 4:30 in the 400 IM, the effort putting her at No. 2 among all major competitions this summer behind McIntosh’s winning time from Pan Pacs.
Additionally, Tang Qianting vaulted to No. 2 in the 100 breaststroke this year based on her time of 1:04.98 at Asian Gams. Tang also improved her existing top time in the 50 breast, dropping a mark of 29.45.
Two other woman who achieved a top-three performance among major finals swims at Asian Games. Siobhan Haughey, the veteran from Hong Kong, swam a time of 52.45 for the second-best mark in the 100 free behind the time from Marrit Steenbergen at the European Championships. China’s Peng Xuwei achieved an Asian record of 2:05.77 in the 200 backstroke for second-best behind Regan Smith.
Additionally, Satomi Suzuki (50 breaststroke), Ke Wenxi (400 IM), Zhang Yufei (100 fly) and the Chinese women’s 400 free relay and mixed 400 medley relay all achieve top-five times.
Below are the updated performances recorded in finals at the three recent international meets. Swimmers who raced at two of these competitions are considered with their fastest finals time between the two opportunities, and only the top two swimmers per country were ranked. These competitions took place under different circumstances with different event programs, but this Combined World Championships show how the swimmers stack up. Times recorded at the Asian Games are listed in bold.
50 Freestyle
- Kate Douglass (USA), 23.19 – Pan Pacs
- Gretchen Walsh (USA), 23.74 – Pan Pacs
- Kasia Wasick (POL), 23.84 – European Championships
- Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.86 – European Championships
- Meg Harris (AUS), 23.89 – Pan Pacs
Siobhan Haughey — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
100 Freestyle
- Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 51.90 – European Championships
- Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 52.45 – Asian Games
- Meg Harris (AUS), 52.60 – Pan Pacs
- Milou Van Wijk (NED), 52.71 – European Championships
- Sara Curtis (ITA), 52.72 – European Championships
200 Freestyle
- Lani Pallister (AUS), 1:53.67 – Pan Pacs
- Summer McIntosh (CAN), 1:53.86 – Pan Pacs
- Barbora Seemanova (CZE), 1:54.38 – European Championships
- Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 1:54.65 – European Championships
- Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:54.66 – Commonwealth Games
400 Freestyle
- Lani Pallister (AUS), 3:58.42 – Pan Pacs
- Katie Ledecky (USA), 4:00.15 – Pan Pacs
- Summer McIntosh (CAN), 4:00.58 – Pan Pacs (B)
- Simona Quadarella (ITA), 4:01.34 – European Championships
- Erika Fairweather (NZL), 4:02.35 – Pan Pacs
800 Freestyle
- Lani Pallister (AUS), 8:06.10 – Pan Pacs
- Katie Ledecky (USA), 8:07.26 – Pan Pacs
- Simona Quadarella (ITA), 8:15.55 – European Championships
- Isabel Gose (GER), 8:18.44 – European Championships
- Erika Fairweather (NZL), 8:18.81 – Pan Pacs
1500 Freestyle
- Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:36.06 – Pan Pacs
- Lani Pallister (AUS), 15:38.62 – Pan Pacs
- Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:46.22 – European Championships
- Isabel Gose (GER), 15:49.31 – European Championships
- Maya Werner (GER), 15:52.50 – European Championships
50 Backstroke
- Sara Curtis (ITA), 26.56 – European Championships
- Katharine Berkoff (USA), 26.90 – Pan Pacs
- Mary-Ambre Moluh (FRA), 27.06 – European Championships
- Regan Smith (USA), 27.14 – Pan Pacs
- Lauren Cox (GBR), 27.15 – European Championships
100 Backstroke
- Katharine Berkoff (USA), 57.93 – Pan Pacs
- Mary-Ambre Moluh (FRA), 57.94 – European Championships
- Regan Smith (USA), 58.11 – Pan Pacs
- Taylor Ruck (CAN), 58.40 – Pan Pacs
- Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 58.46 – European Championships
200 Backstroke
- Regan Smith (USA), 2:05.57 – Pan Pacs
- Peng Xuwei (CHN), 2:05.77 – Asian Games
- Katie Shanahan (GBR), 2:06.13 – European Championships
- Claire Curzan (USA), 2:06.44 – Pan Pacs
- Peng Xuwei (CHN), 2:07.45 – Pan Pacs
Tang Qianting — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
50 Breaststroke
- Tang Qianting (CHN), 29.45 – Asian Games
- McKenzie Siroky (USA), 29.70 – Pan Pacs
- Skyler Smith (USA), 29.90 – Pan Pacs
- Satomi Suzuki (JPN), 29.91 – Asian Games
- Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 29.93 – European Championships
100 Breaststroke
- Angharad Evans (GBR), 1:04.87 – European Championships
- Tang Qianting (CHN), 1:04.98 – Asian Games
- McKenzie Siroky (USA), 1:05.32 – Pan Pacs
- Mona McSharry (IRL), 1:05.41 – European Championships
- Tang Qianting (CHN), 1:05.46 – Pan Pacs
200 Breaststroke
- Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2:19.32 – European Championships
- Angharad Evans (GBR), 2:21.21 – European Championships
- Alexanne Lepage (CAN), 2:21.73 – Pan Pacs
- Mona McSharry (IRL), 2:22.43 – European Championships
- Kate Douglass (USA)/Katomi Kato (JPN), 2:22.57 – Pan Pacs/Asian Games
50 Butterfly
- Gretchen Walsh (USA), 24.65 – Pan Pacs
- Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 25.05 – European Championships
- Kate Douglass (USA), 25.06 – Pan Pacs
- Roos Vanotterdijk (BEL), 25.12 – European Championships
- Taylor Ruck (CAN), 25.23 – Pan Pacs
100 Butterfly
- Gretchen Walsh (USA), 55.15 – Pan Pacs
- Roos Vanotterdijk (BEL), 56.08 – European Championships
- Alex Perkins (AUS), 56.38 – Pan Pacs
- Angelina Kohler (GER), 56.39 – European Championships
- Zhang Yufei (CHN), 56.41 – Asian Games
200 Butterfly
- Yu Zidi (CHN), 2:05.08 – Asian Games
- Keanna Macinnes (GBR), 2:05.90 – European Championships
- Helena Rosendahl Bach (DEN), 2:06.14 – European Championships
- Brittany Castelluzzo (AUS), 2:06.24 – Pan Pacs
- Elizabeth Dekkers (AUS), 2:06.46 – Pan Pacs
200 IM
- Yu Zidi (CHN), 2:06.10 – Asian Games
- Yu Yiting (CHN), 2:07.45 – Pan Pacs
- Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2:07.47 – Pan Pacs
- Alex Walsh (USA), 2:07.66 – Pan Pacs
- Jenna Forrester (AUS), 2:09.24 – Commonwealth Games
400 IM
- Summer McIntosh (CAN), 4:28.01 – Pan Pacs
- Yu Zidi (CHN), 4:28.56 – Asian Games
- Jenna Forrester (AUS), 4:31.19 – Commonwealth Games
- Ke Wenxi (CHN), 4:32.51 – Asian Games
- Agostina Hein (ARG), 4:32.53 – Pan Pacs
400 Freestyle Relay
- United States (Douglass, Walsh, Huske, Manuel), 3:29.31 – Pan Pacs
- Australia (Harris, Perkins, Jansen, Wunsch), 3:31.11 – Pan Pacs
- Netherlands (van Wijk, de Jong, van Kalmthout, Steenbergen), 3:31.89 – European Championships
- China (Yu, Zhang, Cheng, Wu), 3:33.10 – Asian Games
- Italy (Menicucci, Curtis, Tarantino, Mao), 3:33.19 – European Championships
800 Freestyle Relay
- Australia (Miller, Pallister, Casey, Jansen), 7:42.40 – Pan Pacs
- United States (Gemmell, Peplowski, Erisman, Ledecky), 7:43.10 – Pan Pacs
- Great Britain (Colbert, Wood, Schlosshan, Anderson), 7:45.93 – European Championships
- Hungary (Padar, Abraham, Kesely, Ugrai), 7:49.09 – European Championships
- Russia (Misharina, Diakova, Surushkina, Klepikova), 7:49.13 – European Championships
400 Medley Relay
- United States (Berkoff, Siroky, Walsh, Douglass), 3:50.43 – Pan Pacs
- Great Britain (Cox, Evans, MacInnes, Colbert), 3:53.50 – European Championships
- Italy (Curtis, Pilato, Gastaldi, Menicucci) – 3:53.60 – European Championships
- Russia (Gaitutdinova, Chikunova, Klepikova, Manokhina), 3:53.79 – European Championships
- Australia (Anderson, Toohey, Perkins, Harris), 3:54.25 – Commonwealth Games
Mixed 400 Medley Relay
- United States (Modglin, Mathias, Walsh, Douglass), 3:36.70 – Pan Pacs
- Australia (Anderson, Williamson, Temple, Harris), 3:39.30 – Pan Pacs
- France (Moluh, Aitkaci, Grousset, Wattel), 3:39.64 – European Championships
- China (Xu, Dong, Zhang, Yu), 3:40.38 – Asian Games
- Russia (Kolesnikov, Prigoda, Klepikova, Kuznetsova), 3:41.52 – European Championships