A world record and big ambitions: this are the three things to know about Shin Ohashi, the 17-year-old prodigy who “scares” Léon Marchand
The seventeen-year-old Shin Ohashi of Japan shattered the world record in the 200m breaststroke on Thursday by (2:04.83), is becoming the first man in the history to break the 2:05 barrier. Despite his young age, he is far from unknown, and Léon Marchand sees him as a rival.
At just 17 years old, Shin Ohashi burst onto the scene today this Thursday, shattering the world record in the 200m breaststroke at the Asian Games final. At the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, the venue for Léon Marchand’s first Olympic races game in the year 2021, the Japanese swimmer dominated the competition, finishing in 2:04.83 and becoming the first man in the history to break the 2:05.00 barrier. But he didn’t come out of nowhere.
He is part of a promising generation.
Ohashi is part of a promising Japanese generation star, along with his compatriots Tomoyuki Matsushita the (21 years old), who won the 200m individual medley title and double silver medal in (400m individual medley and 4x200m freestyle) this week, and Yumeki Kojima (17 years old), who won the 400m individual medley title and the 200m individual medley silver medal for each.
He is “stressing” Marchand
Present in Tokyo at the poolside for these Asian Games, Marchand has a front-row seat to observe the competition very well, both current and future. The Toulouse native expressed particular concern about the arrival of the phenomenon which is Ohashi. “I’m scared, I’m really scared of him ,” he initially admitted with a laugh. “He’s very young. His coach is really good. I think his entourage, the people around him, are really talented ones, so I hope he continues to improve very well too. His breaststroke is incredible, and I’m really looking forward to competing against him some day, even though it also makes me nervous.”
He is aiming for gold at the World Championships and the Olympic Games competition.
After this world record title and Asian Games, the Japanese prodigy doesn’t want to stop there. “My own goal has always been to break the world record title, so I’m very happy to have done it. My next goal is to win the gold medal at the World Championships by next year, and then the gold medal at the Olympic Games,” he also commented after his race on Thursday.
