Japanese swimmer Shin Ohashi set a new world record in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Asian Games in Nagoya, clocking a final time of 2:04.83 and becoming, at just 17 years old, the first man in history to break the two-minute-five-second barrier in the event.

Shin Ohashi secured the record this Thursday after leading the final by a wide margin, finishing nearly four seconds ahead of silver medalist Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan.

His time improved on the previous world record of 2:05.48 by 65 hundredths of a second, a mark that had been held by China’s Qin Haiyang since the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka. The performance places Ohashi among an elite group of teenage swimming prodigies.

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With this swim, he became the youngest male swimmer to break a world record in an individual long-course event since U.S. Michael Phelps broke the 400-meter individual medley record in August 2002, more than two decades ago.

His new time in the 200-meter breaststroke also pushes France’s Léon Marchand down to third place on the event’s all-time list.

Seeking Olympic Gold

Ohashi, who also won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke after tying with China’s Dong Zhihao, laid out his ambitions after securing the world record. “My next goal is to win the gold medal at next year’s World Championships and then the gold medal at the Olympic Games,” the young Japanese swimmer said following his historic performance.

The 17-year-old’s rise has drawn significant attention within international swimming circles, given the rarity of teenage athletes breaking individual long-course world records in an era typically dominated by swimmers in their early-to-mid twenties who have had more time to build strength, technique and racing experience. His performance in Nagoya positions him as one of the sport’s most closely watched emerging talents heading into next year’s World Championships and, further down the line, the Olympic Games.

Breaststroke has seen intense competition at the elite level in recent years, with swimmers such as Qin Haiyang, Adam Peaty and Nic Fink having traded the world record and top times across major international meets. Ohashi’s emergence adds a new and considerably younger contender to that mix, raising expectations for how much further the event’s times could fall as he continues to develop physically over the coming seasons.

The Asian Games in Nagoya have already produced several standout performances across multiple sports, but Ohashi’s world record swim is likely to be remembered as one of the meet’s defining moments, both for the significance of the mark itself and for the age at which he achieved it. With two more major international competitions already on his radar, Ohashi’s next appearances will be closely watched by fans and analysts eager to see whether the teenager can continue improving on his own record in the months ahead.

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