Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi has become a sensation at the World Aquatics Championships after missing the podium by only 0.06 seconds in the women's 200-meter individual medley in Singapore on Monday, but she is keen not to get caught up in the hype.

Yu, who shaved over a second off her personal best to finish in two minutes, 9.21 seconds, received high praise from fellow competitors but said she was focusing only on her training.

"I will try to get on the podium. But I feel like that’s probably impossible. Still, I want to give it a shot. I was one step short today, so I will keep working hard," Yu told CCTV.

American silver medalist Alex Walsh said Yu has a bright future.

"She’s obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims," Walsh said.

With the media comparing her to prodigies like Canada's Summer McIntosh, who claimed gold in the race, Yu shook her head when asked if she was a genius.

"Not really. It’s all thanks to hard training," she said.

Yu is set to compete in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday, with the 400m medley to follow on Sunday.