NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday at the Asian Games, swimming a time of 2 minutes, 4.83 seconds.
The old record was 2:05.48 set by Qin Haiyang of China at the 2023 swimming world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
“I wasn’t expecting to post a time like that,” Ohashi said. “So I was really happy. At the same time, I felt a huge sense of relief.”
Denis Petrashov of Kyrgystan
was second in 2:08.67 and Cho Sung-jae of South Korea took bronze in 2:08.76.
The 17-year-old Ohashi already had the fastest time of the year (2:06.59) and has been the breaststroker to beat this season.
“I may be the world-record holder now, but the level of competition around the world will keep rising,” Ohashi said. “I don’t want to be left behind. Instead, I want to be the one who sets the pace, so I’ll keep working hard in training.”
Ohashi’s record temporarily took the spotlight away from China and 13-year star Yu Zidi. Yu has won three gold medals in the 200 butterfly, and 200 and 400 IM during the Asian Games. She will not swim any other individual events.
Ohashi won the 400 individual medley earlier in the week in the Asian Games, clocking 4:07.02. That world mark is held by Leon Marchand of France (4:02.50), who won four gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He said the most notable thing about his race on Thursday was that he did not fade in the last 50 meters.
“I think my biggest strength is my ability to keep my swimming compact and maintain a good tempo,” he said. “Ultimately, I think my biggest goal is to win an Olympic gold medal.”
Marchand has been among the presenters handing out medals on the pool deck during the games with swimming being held in the Olympic pool in Tokyo.
Ohashi is far from physically imposing. He is only 1.69 meters tall — just under 5-feet-7 — and broke Japan's national record earlier in the year in the 100-meter breaststroke.
That record had been held by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champions.
China, slightly in the shadows of Ohashi's world record, still won four gold medals in Thursday's seven events. Through five days in the pool — swimming ends Friday — China has won 25 gold medals in 34 events.
Chinese winners on Thursday included Wu Qingfeng in the women's 50 free (23.98); Zhang Zhanshuo in the men's 800 free (7:42.49); the men's 4x100 freestyle relay (3:10.60); the women's 4x200 free relay (7:49.37).
In addition to Ohashi, Japan also picked up gold from Kotomi Kato (2:22,57) in the women's 200 breaststroke.
The other gold on Thursday went to Mikhail Arkhangelskiy of Bahrain (22.91) in the men's 50-butterfly. Arkhangelskiy was born in Russia and has swum for Florida State University.
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