Tomoyuki Matsushita Breaks Asian Record in 400 IM; Becomes No. 4 Performer in History
A decade after Kosuke Hagino set an Asian record en route to the gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, his standard has been lowered. Racing at the Japanese Intercollegiate Championships, Tomoyuki Matsushita clocked a time of 4:05.83, which took down Hagino’s record of 4:06.05.
Coming off a gold medal in the event at the Pan Pacific Championships, where he also won the 200 medley, Matsushita became just the fifth swimmer to break the 4:06 barrier in the 400 IM. He joined a club that includes world-record holder Leon Marchand (4:02.50), Michael Phelps (4:03.84), Ryan Lochte (4:05.18) and Chase Kalisz (4:05.90).
Matsushita opened with a 55.96 split for the butterfly leg and went through the midway point of the race in 1:59.70. At the 300-meter turn, Matsushita was timed in 3:09.36 and he came home with a freestyle split of 56.47. Matsushita’s previous best was the 4:06.75 he delivered at Pan Pacs last month.
While Marchand has dominated the 400 individual medley, Matsushita has been the event’s clear No. 2, following a silver medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and a runnerup finish at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore. Matsushita will contest the 400 IM at the Asian Games, scheduled for later this month in Tokyo.