GIFU, Japan, September 11. TWO years ago, Akihiro Yamaguchi stunned the swimming community by blazing to a world record time of 2:07.01 in the 200 long course breaststroke at the Japanese Sports Festival.
This week’s competition at the Japanese Sports Festival in Nagasaki might not feature any world record swims, with the country’s top athletes in final preparation for the Asian Games later this month. But the meet has grown in stature, thanks to Yamaguchi’s performance. Yamaguchi is scheduled to swim in the Sports Festival this year, but only in the 100 breast.
When Yamaguchi swam his 2:07.01 in 2012, he was pretty much unknown outside Japan. He had an impressive summer in 2012 before the Sports Festival, inching closer to the world record at two previous meets before taking it to an unreachable level. Many have tried to break Yamaguchi’s record, posting splits well under pace after 150 meters, but cannot match his 32.23 final 50 meters.
Witness this race again to marvel at the teenager’s blistering speed at the end of the race!