2026 JAPANESE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
In addition to the monster World Junior Record of 2:00.12 in the 200m breaststroke at the hands of 17-year-old Shin Ohashi, the final day of action at the 2026 Japanese Short Course Championships brought additional notable performances.
One of them took place in the men’s 200m IM, where 21-year-old Olympic medalist Tomoyuki Matsushita busted out a lifetime best, new national record and new Asian record en route to gold.
Matsushita stopped the clock at a speedy result of 1:50.42 to get to the wall well over a second ahead of his teammates.
Kosuke Makino was the next-closest competitor at 1:51.97, with Haru Hirayama‘s time of 1:54.72 garnering him the bronze.
Matsushita’s outing overtook the longstanding former Japanese national and Asian continental benchmark of 1:50.47 Olympic champion Kosuke Hagino put on the books at the 2014 Short Course World Championships.
This outing was a speedy follow-up to the huge World Record of 3:54.33 Matsushita established earlier in this competition.
Matsushita is now the 5th-fastest men’s SCM 200 IM performer in history.
Top 5 Men’s SCM 200 IM Performers All-Time
- Leon Marchand (FRA) – 1:48.88, 2024
- Shaine Casas (USA) – 1:49.43, 2025
- Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:49.63, 2012
- Matt Sates (RSA) – 1:50.15, 2022
- Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN) – 1:50.42, 2026
