Shin Ohashi of Japan sets world record in 200-meter breaststroke at the Asian Games

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NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday at the Asian Games, swimming a time of 2 minutes, 4.83 seconds.

The old record was 2:05.48 set by Qin Haiyang of China at the 2023 swimming world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Denis Petrashov of Kyrgystan was second in 2:08.67 and Cho Sung-jae of South Korea took bronze in 2:08.76.

The 17-year-old Ohashi already had the fastest time of the year (2:06.59) and has been the breaststroker to beat this season.

Ohashi’s record temporarily took the spotlight away from China and 13-year star Yu Zidi. Yu has won three gold medals in the 200 butterfly, and 200 and 400 IM during the Asian Games. She will not swim any other individual events.

Ohashi won the 400 individual medley earlier in the week in the Asian Games, clocking 4:07.02. That world mark is held by Leon Marchand of France (4:02.50), who won four gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Marchand has been among the presenters handing out medals on the pool deck during the games with swimming being held in the Olympic pool in Tokyo.

Ohashi is far from physically imposing. He is only 1.69 meters tall — just under 5-feet-7 — and broke Japan's national record earlier in the year in the 100-meter breaststroke.

That record had been held by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champions.

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