Ippei Watanabe Breaks 200 Breast World Record (RACE VIDEO)
Japan’s Ippei Watanabe broke the world record in the men’s 200 breast Sunday, becoming the first man to ever crack the 2:07-barrier in the event.
Watanabe posted a time of 2:06.67 at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup in Tokyo, breaking the 2:07.01 set by countryman Akihiro Yamaguchi in Sept. 2012.
“I’m very surprised, I didn’t think I could break a world record,” Watanabe said, according to the Associated Press. “I want to become a swimmer who can keep breaking records.”
Check out the video of Watanabe’s record-setting performance below.
Watanabe previously ranked third all-time in the event at 2:07.22, having swum that time in the semi-finals of the event at the Olympic Games last summer in Rio. He went on to finish sixth in the final a day later, but his time from Rio still stands as the Olympic record.
The performance comes, ironically, at a meet named after Kosuke Kitajima, the Japanese breaststroker who won gold in both the 100 and 200-meter distances in both Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. Kitajima is widely regarded as one of the greatest breaststrokers of all time.
News of the record was publicized on Twitter, and Kitajima responded with congratulations to his countryman.
渡辺一平選手世界記録おめでとう🎊
素晴らしい瞬間に立ち会えたことに感謝!!— kosukekitajima.eth (@kitajimakosuke) January 29, 2017
(Rough translation: “Congratulations Ippei Watanabe players world record. Thanks to those wonderful feelings!)
This graphic from USA Swimming High Performance Manager Russell Mark compares splits from Watanabe’s swim to recent world record-breaking performances.
ICYMI Watanabe 2 brst WR👍<VID+ TOP 4 DATA> Late kick & fast heels👍 Body+hands shoot fwd👍 Last 50m=⬆️tempo+⬆️strokes👍 https://t.co/mPMGbJX2DQ pic.twitter.com/P9TqFXFECZ
— Russell Mark (@RussellMark1226) January 30, 2017
USA Swimming Stats tweeted a graphic of the world record progression in the event from the last 15 years, going back to when Kitajima became the first man to break 2:10 in 2002. Kitajima and longtime rival Brendan Hansen each lowered the mark three times over that span.
The progression of the world record in the men's 200m Breaststroke. Ippei Watanabe (JPN) swam a 2:06.67 earlier today. An awesome swim. pic.twitter.com/XYJ2UOsqDP
— USA Swimming News (@USASwimmingNews) January 29, 2017
American breaststrokers better get off the schnide and get to work.
I knew this was coming!
Megan Wolff Prinsloo showing flames!!!!
Hamish Trlin Liam Albery
John-Charles Loo
Nathan Zhu
??
Yichen Zhou
im a sprinter thats not gonna happen anytime soon
helena thats wat im expecting out of u
Tame Govaerts-Paul
Surely you’ll be under too with your 59?
good 1 bro
Hey thanks g
Marchenko Igor
sous 2:07 Kim Anh Sander c quoi ce mec ??
Ouais c’est énorme! Au boulot hein noa ?
ouai c clair il va falloir venir a l’entrainement deja hein mdrr mais normalement je reviens demain
Kim Anh Sander va snap
Mental Joe Stott
Rory Huggins Polly Lorimer Jack Ford
What the hell
Maurício
AWESOME
Gambarimasu Watanabe San 🙂
Alex got some work to do haha
https://youtu.be/9OU0ELmBPNU
Tyler Shimada ?
I was just about to tag you in swimswam’s article of this
Manuel Heriberto
Jo Murphy Connor Bryan ?
Jonathan Minier
Whaàaat
En janvier calixx
Amar Zaidi
Alejandro Saúl jajajjaja
Paul Kim
Dave Makhervaks Aaron Elhajj
Is that you?
Aaron Elhajj bruh
Rei Isobe
Yousef Almatrok
“200 breast world record” it’s a wonder he can move at all
Nadia Blaauw Reino von Wielligh Sergio Dos Santos Samantha Blaauw Licinda Kleynhans Abie Van Oort Ludick Nel Wiehann Kock
Daniel M Heredia Yassir Abdalla no seas burro
2:06
Simon-Pierre Bélanger Jonathan Minier Solide!!!! ?
j’ai vu c’est fast
Ca veut pas dire que si t’es asiatique que t’a une petite queue
He train extremely hard when he was training at our pool.
Jarrett Hui Victor Luu beat that
Why is it that most Japanese swimmers are fast at breaststroke? I want that
learn their technique
Tomohiko Watanabe your brother? Haha
If I’m my brother, it can be swum earlier.
What a shame!