2026 JAPANESE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, October 10th – Monday, October 12th
- Saga Prefecture
- SCM (25m)
- Qualifying Competition for SC World Championships
- Entries
- Live Results
The 2026 Japanese Short Course Championships are nearly upon us, with action kicking off on Saturday, October 10th and spanning through Monday, October 12th.
The three-day competition represents an elite opportunity for the nation’s swimmers to qualify for this year’s Short Course World Championships taking place in Beijing this December.
Per the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF) selection policy, a maximum of 20 athletes will be selected for Beijing based on performances at the in-progress World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, along with this meet. Preference is given to the top two swimmers in each event who meet or exceed the stiff JASF-mandated ‘dispatch’ standard listed below. If no swimmer hits that mark, then the next qualification is doled out to the top two who notch the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard.
According to the entries, we’re slated to see several of the Japanese big guns who are coming off of the Asian Games which just concluded late last month from Tokyo.
Newly minted World Record holder Shin Ohashi will show us what he’s got in short course, with the 17-year-old ready to take on the breaststroke events. Among his competitors is Yusei Imaizumi, the fellow 17-year-old who took down Ohashi’s World Junior Record in the SCM 100 breaststroke last month.
Additional Asian Games medalists expected to race this week include Tatsuya Murasa, Kaito Tabuchi, Hidekazu Takehara and Katsuhiro Matsumoto.
Also among the entrants is Olympic medalist Daiya Seto, the 32-year-old veteran who missed out on Asian Games qualification. He will do his best in the IM events with Beijing selection on the line.
On the women’s side, Mizuki Hirai of the University of Tennessee highlights the pack, giving us a first glimpse into her form this season after bypassing the JPN Swim.
