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Yu fifth fastest in 200m butterfly heats after official says she should not be competing

Yu fifth fastest in 200m butterfly heats after official says she should not be competing

China's Yu Zidi eased into the finals of the women's 200-metre butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday, hours after a German official questioned whether she should even have been allowed to take part.
The 12-year-old's time of two minutes, 08.95 seconds was the fifth fastest in the morning's heats in Singapore, with Canada's Summer McIntosh leading the way in 2:07.07.
McIntosh has already bagged two gold medals in Singapore and she is looking to join Phelps as the only swimmer to win five individual titles at a single world championships. Yu finished fourth behind McIntosh in the 200m IM final on Monday.
On Tuesday, Christian Hansmann said Yu's participation at the championships was 'questionable' because of an official age limit of 14.
'There are rules that should apply for everyone. If you make an exception here based on performance then I don't consider it a good idea,' Hansmann, German federation board member for high performance sport, said.
'First of all not for sporting reasons, but also to protect the youth – or better the child at 12 years.'
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