17-Year-Old Shin Ohashi Wins Double Gold with World Record 2:04.83 in 200m Breaststroke

From our other sites

The story

At the Asian Games underway in Aichi and Nagoya, 17-year-old Shin Ohashi set a new world record of 2:04.83 in the men’s 200m breaststroke, capturing his second gold of the tournament. The time stands out even compared to Kosuke Kitajima’s world record from his competitive days, which was in the 2:07 range, and 5ch lit up with astonished comments like “This is like something out of a manga.” At the same time, many pointed to Akihiro Yamaguchi and Kyoko Iwasaki of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics — both of whom set world-class marks as teenagers only to struggle afterward — raising concerns about his future development, making for a thread mixing excitement with worry.

Sports Nippon

[ September 24, 2026, 17:28 ]

Aichi/Nagoya Asian Games, Day 6 — Swimming (September 24, 2026, Tokyo Aquatics Centre)

Source: sponichi.co.jp / Read the original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:38
Watching Showa-retro exploration videos on YouTube is way more fun than watching Peace-kun from Omiya Park (a mascot at the park's zoo) anyway.
4AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:39
Whoa, a world record, that's amazing~ (´^ω^`)
Olympic gold's basically locked in already~
5AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:39
"I've never been this happy in my entire life."
9AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:41
This is the "Asian Games" (lol) for you
Japan just dominates the moment they get even slightly serious
11AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:42
A high school record that's also a world record? This is straight out of a manga.
15AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:44
Re: #1
Forget that, it's Ohtani we should be talking about!
Base hit right after his comeback!
18AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:47
Making this big a deal over a new high school record is way overkill
This place is full of idiots
19AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:47
Swimming's got itself a new hero.
20AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:47
Swimming's been kind of flat for like 5 years, so this is great, right?
22AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:48
Wasn't there a guy named Yamaguchi who also set a world record in high school and then just fizzled out afterward?
Hope this kid doesn't repeat that and grows into his talent safely.
34AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:56
Re: #22
Yeah, he was insanely fast for like 3 months there.
23AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:48
Just peak for the Olympics, please.
24AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:49
Yeah… Kyoko Iwasaki too…
27AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:49
Why is it that younger swimmers tend to be stronger?
Meanwhile Daiya Seto was out here trying to turn his affair scandal into motivation.
38AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:59
Re: #27
For women it's pretty clear-cut — once the body matures, i.e. fat increases, it becomes a disadvantage, so they compress as much as possible with high-tech swimsuits.
But I wonder about men
Does it really have that much of an effect?
30AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:51
Kosuke Kitajima's world record back in the day was in the 2:07 range…
2:04 is just absurd ( ・ω・)
31AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:52
A star is born.
Swimming's been kind of meh lately, so this'll get things exciting.
33AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:55
"On TV the cheers for China sounded louder, but in person the cheers for Japan were actually louder."

If that's true, that's a real problem.
35AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:58
Breaststroke is this weird stroke that basically only Japanese people do anyway.
39AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:59
17 years old, huh
At that age I was at the arcade playing KOF (King of Fighters) every single day.
40AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:59
This is no fluke, not even a little!
41AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:59
Posting a great time at a regional meet doesn't mean much
It's only worth remembering if you do it at the Olympics.
42AnonymousSep 24, 2026 17:59
In the end it all comes down to whether he can peak for the Olympics.
43AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:00
Apparently Japanese people are good at breaststroke because they're "flat" (a pun on 平泳ぎ/breaststroke, literally "flat swim").
44AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:00
Feels like it's been a while since swimming had a new rising star, huh?
49AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:03
Re: #44
The 200m breaststroke actually gets its world record broken pretty often.

Guys like Akihiro Yamaguchi and Ippei Watanabe, for example.
47AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:01
World record's impressive and all
but he'll probably lose at the Olympics anyway.
51AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:03
Guess holding swimming events in Tokyo was the right call after all
It's got flair and no mistakes.
53AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:03
Whoa, no way
a world record at the Asian Games?
Hurry up and wrap the table tennis broadcast so they can show this already.
59AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:08
Re: #53
Nagoya's a pool where good times come out, after all.
57AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:07
But swimmers always seem to get cocky and screw up their personal lives — that's the only image I've got of them.
60AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:08
At the Olympics, winning (gold) comes first, and records are more for meets like this one, or so I thought — but swimming does have peaking, though pacing/tactics don't really factor in much, huh.
63AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:11
A 17-year-old setting a world record — does that mean the competition level isn't all that high?
69AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:16
Even though it's a world record, this thread's barely growing.
Guess the Asian Games just doesn't get much attention.
70AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:17
Re: #69
TBS's exclusive broadcast deal was a mistake.
73AnonymousSep 24, 2026 18:21
Re: #69
Well, it's breaststroke.
If you think of freestyle swimmers as dolphins, this is a frog, right?
While the dolphin swims 100m, the frog can't even make it 10m.

Background and Key Points of This Topic

As posters noted, the world record for the 200m breaststroke stood in the 2:07 range even in Kosuke Kitajima’s era, so 2:04.83 is a standout figure by any historical measure — and for a high schooler to reach it is itself extraordinary. There is precedent for concern here: swimmers like Akihiro Yamaguchi and Kyoko Iwasaki also produced world-class results as teenagers, only to struggle in the years that followed. The thread’s mix of excitement and worry reflects those precedents rather than being baseless. Some also pointed out that because the Asian Games draws less attention than the Olympics, a world record here generates less buzz than it otherwise might — though the record’s official status is the same regardless, and the focus now shifts to whether he can maintain or improve on this time at the World Championships and Olympics being held in Tokyo. The headline’s reference to “correcting his form in solo practice the night before” comes from the original article and indicates he was adjusting his technique right up until the event, though the thread excerpts don’t go into further detail.

※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Asian Games] 17-Year-Old Shin Ohashi Wins Double Gold with a Stunning World Record of 2:04.83 in the 200m — Corrected His Form in Solo Practice the Night Before“.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *