A Look at Japan’s Rich History in the 200 Breaststroke
Although the last two editions of the Olympic Games have been a struggle for Japan, the country’s history in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke remains a strength. A pair of athletes advanced to the finals of the event at the Paris Games, and the world rankings are dotted with Japanese swimmers. Additionally, Shin Ohashi just set a world junior record in the 200 breast, clocking 2:07.27 during high school competition.
Here is a quick look at Japan’s historic success in the 200 breaststroke.
- Six Japanese men have held the world record in the event.
- Four Japanese athletes have captured Olympic gold in the 200 breast.
- Only twice in Olympic history has a man repeated as gold medalist in the 200 breaststroke, and both hail from Japan. Yoshiyuki Tsuruta went back-to-back at the 1928 and 1932 Games while Kosuke Kitajima mined gold at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
- Of the 29-fastest performers of all-time, eight are from Japan. Even more impressive, six of the 16-fastest athletes in the history of the 200 breaststroke are from the Land of the Rising Sun.
- Six athletes have medaled in the 200 breaststroke at the World Championships, led by Kitajima’s collection of two gold, a silver and a bronze.
Top-20 Performers (200 Breaststroke)
Qin Haiyang (China) – 2:05.48
Leon Marchand (France) – 2:05.85
Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia) – 2:05.95
Anton Chupkov (Russia) – 2:06.12
Shoma Sato (Japan) – 2:06.40
Matt Fallon (United States) – 2:06.54
Ippei Watanabe (Japan) – 2:06.67
Matthew Wilson (Australia) – 2:06.67
Arno Kamminga (Netherlands) – 2:06.85
Akihiro Yamaguchi (Japan) – 2:07.01
Yu Hanaguruma (Japan) – 2:07.07
Matti Mattsson (Finland) – 2:07.13
Josh Prenot (United States) – 2:07.17
Yasuhiro Koseki (Japan) – 2:07.18
Daniel Gyurta (Hungary) – 2:07.23
Shin Ohashi (Japan) – 2:07.27
Ross Murdoch (Great Britain) – 2:07.30
Christian Sprenger (Australia) – 2:07.31
Kevin Cordes (United States) – 2:07.41
Eric Shanteau (United States) – 2:07.42