FLASH! Shin Ohashi Destroys World Record in 200 Breaststroke; Takes Event Below 2:05
For the past two years, Japan’s Shin Ohashi has teased the sport with his burgeoning talent, setting world junior records in the 100-meter breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. On Thursday night, the 17-year-old delivered much more, as he blasted a world record in the 200 breaststroke at the Asian Games in Tokyo. More, Ohashi took the event into new territory, as he became the first person to crack the 2:05 barrier in the event.
Coming off a tie for the gold medal in the 100 breaststroke, Ohashi was never challenged in the 200 breaststroke. His only foe was the clock and the Japanese upstart triggered numbers never before seen in the discipline when he touched the wall in 2:04.83. That performance destroyed the previous world record, the 2:05.48 that China’s Qin Haiyang posted at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.
Ohashi entered the final with a career best of 2:06.59, the time that made him the world junior record holder. Inside the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, he jumped completely over the 2:05 range while improving by 1.76 seconds. Ohashi registered the world record through an aggressive approach, as he pushed the first 100 meters. The teen opened the race with a split of 28.27 and came through the 100-meter mark in 59.89, a mark most breaststrokers dream of for the two-lap event. Ohashi made the turn for home in 1:32.40 and closed with a split of 32.43.
Ohashi first made his name known in international waters when he swept the breaststroke events at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra, Australia. Last month, he was the silver medalist in the 100 breaststroke and the bronze medalist in the 200 breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California. Clearly, the teen was biding his time for the Asian Games, and the chance to wow a home crowd at the Asian Games.
With Ohashi going sub-2:06 (and much more), four men in history have achieved that feat. The others are Qin, French Olympic champion Leon Marchanf (2:05.85) and Aussie Olympic champ Zac Stubblety-Cook (2:05.95).
