2026 JAPANESE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2026 Japanese Short Course Championships wrapped up from Saga Prefecture today but not before we saw another powerful performance at the hands of 17-year-old Shin Ohashi.
Racing in the final of the men’s 200m breaststroke, Ohashi smashed a new lifetime best and World Junior Record of 2:00.12 to grab the gold, establishing a new Japanese national record and Asian continental record in the process.
Entering this competition, the WJR stood at the 2:01.24 Ohashi set at the 48th All Junior Olympic Spring Competition just earlier this year. That means the LCM 200 breast World Record holder hacked over a second off that prior PB to check in as the #2 performer in history.
But fellow 17-year-old Yusei Imaizumi, the newly minted WJR holder in the SCM 100 breast, was only .14 behind to become the 4th-fastest man ever. Japan now owns three of the top five slots on the list, with former Japanese national record holder and Asian record holder Daiya Seto remaining #5 of all time.
Top 5 Men’s SCM 200 Breaststroke Performers All-Time
- Caspar Corbeau (NED) – 1:59.52, 2025
- Shin Ohashi (JPN) – 2:00.12, 2026
- Kirill Prigoda (RUS) – 2:00.16, 2018
- Yusei Imaizumi (JPN) – 2:00.26, 2026
- Daiya Seto (JPN) – 2:00.35, 2022
Ohashi already made history at the Asian Games last month where the prodigy produced a huge senior World Record of 2:04.83 in the LCM 200 breaststroke to become the first swimmer ever under the 2:05 threshold.
| Ohashi’s New SCM 200 breast WJR – 2:00.12 | Ohashi’s Old SCM 200 breast WJR – 2:01.24 |
| 12.56 | 12.52 |
| 27.20 | 27.01 |
| 42.24 | 42.03 |
| 57.43 | 57.59 |
| 1:12.80 | 1:13.15 |
| 1:28.56 | 1:29.05 |
| 1:44.31 | 1:45.03 |
