Japan's 17-year-old Shin Ohashi breaks 200m breaststroke world record at Asian Games

Japan's 17-year-old swimmer Shin Ohashi set a new world record in the men's 200-metre breaststroke on Thursday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, clocking 2 minutes 4.83 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The time surpassed the previous world record of 2:05.48 set by China's Qin Haiyang at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, making Ohashi the first man to break the 2:05 barrier in the event. Ohashi's performance also set a new world junior record, improving on his previous personal best of 2:06.59 recorded at Japan's national championships in March. He becomes the youngest male swimmer since Michael Phelps to break an individual world record in an Olympic-size pool, according to Olympic sports historian Bill Mallon.

Ohashi's victory marked his second gold medal at the Games. He had previously won the 100-metre breaststroke title, which he shared with China's Dong Zhihao at 58.64 seconds, with China's Qin Haiyang taking bronze. The teenager also contributed to Japan's silver medals in both the men's and mixed 4x100 metre medley relays. Following the race, Ohashi expressed relief and happiness at achieving his long-held goal. "I wasn't expecting to post a time like that," he said. "So I was really happy. At the same time, I felt a huge sense of relief."

Ohashi's achievement has drawn international attention and respect from established competitors. French Olympic 200-metre breaststroke champion Leon Marchand, who is presenting medals at the pool, expressed concern about the teenager's potential. "I'm scared. I'm very scared of him," Marchand said. "He's still so young. His coach is really good. I think his entourage, the people around him, are really good, so I hope he's going to keep improving." Marchand also noted that Ohashi's breaststroke technique is exceptional and said he is both excited and stressed about the prospect of racing him at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

In the final, Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan finished second in 2:08.67, and Cho Sung-jae of South Korea took bronze in 2:08.76. The 17-year-old is the sixth different man to break the 200-metre breaststroke world record in the last decade, during which the record has been lowered by a total of 2.18 seconds. Ohashi's record was the first swimming world record set at the 2026 Asian Games. Looking ahead, Ohashi stated that his next goal is to win gold at the 2027 World Championships in Beijing before ultimately targeting Olympic gold, expressing ambitions to swim 2:02.00 or even 2:01.00 in the future.