Shin Ohashi sets 200m breaststroke world record of 2:04.83 at Asian Games

World record in Tokyo pool

Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi set a world record in the men's 200-metre breaststroke on Thursday at the Asian Games, finishing in 2:04.83 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The 17-year-old athlete, who measures 1.69 metres in height, lowered the previous world standard of 2:05.48 set by China's Qin Haiyang at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka by 0.65 seconds. Denis Petrashov finished in second place with a time of 2:08.67, which left him 3.84 seconds behind the winner. South Korea's Cho Sung-jae claimed the bronze medal after touching the wall in 2:08.76. Following the race, Ohashi confirmed that taking the record had been his primary objective for the meet before setting his sights on the upcoming world championships.

“The world record was my goal so I'm very happy to get it.”

Shin Ohashi (2026 WR)124.83

Qin Haiyang (2023 WR)125.48

Denis Petrashov (2026 Silver)128.67

Cho Sung-jae (2026 Bronze)128.76

Shin Ohashi (2026 WR)

124.83 s

Qin Haiyang (2023 WR)

125.48 s

Denis Petrashov (2026 Silver)

128.67 s

Cho Sung-jae (2026 Bronze)

128.76 s

Data from the article text

Competitor reactions and international attention

The result generated immediate reactions across the international swimming circuit. Cho stated that although he anticipated strong competition from Ohashi in the breaststroke final, he did not expect a world-record time to emerge from the race. The performance followed comments from French swimmer Leon Marchand, the Olympic 200-metre breaststroke champion, who had identified Ohashi as a formidable competitor earlier in the week. Marchand noted the teenager's rapid development alongside the strength of his coaching staff and surrounding support team.

“I'm scared. I'm very scared of him.”

Ohashi's Asian Games campaign

Thursday's gold was Ohashi's second victory at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Earlier in the schedule, he tied for gold in the 100-metre breaststroke with China's Dong Zhihao after both clocked 58.64 seconds, finishing ahead of Qin, who took the bronze medal. Ohashi also helped Japan secure silver medals in both the men's 4x100-metre medley relay and the mixed 4x100-metre medley relay. The swimmer enters the final day of pool competition on Friday with the 50-metre breaststroke, where he could claim a fifth medal of the Games.

Multi-sport results across Aichi-Nagoya

China surpassed 75 total gold medals during Thursday's programme, continuing its lead in the multi-sport competition. Chinese rowers concluded their regatta by claiming nine gold medals and one silver on their final day of competition, while China's wushu athletes won all six sanda full-contact fighting finals. In shooting, 22-year-old Jiang Yiting secured the skeet mixed team title on her final shot against South Korea, adding to her victories in the individual skeet and women's team events. In the pool, 13-year-old Yu Zidi collected three gold medals across the 200-metre butterfly, 200-metre individual medley, and 400-metre individual medley, while Zhang Zhanshuo won his sixth gold of the Games in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay. In gymnastics, 26-year-old Carlos Yulo of the Philippines scored 14.666 in the floor exercise final to edge Kazakhstan's Milad Karimi (14.600) and complete a career collection of Olympic, world, and continental titles.

“Having this in my collection, it's all complete now.”