Kosuke Hagino Points To Wang Shun’s 200IM Odyssey To 1:54 As Highlight Of Asian Games
Four-time Olympic medallist Kosuke Hagino singled out Wang Shun’s journey to 1:54 in the 200IM as his personal highlight at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Wang elevated himself to third all-time when he went 1:54.62 en-route to a successful defence of his title, one of four gold medals for the Chinese swimmer.
Wang’s time has been eclipsed only by Ryan Lochte’s 1:54.00 WR and Michael Phelps’ 1:54.16 for silver behind his USA teammate in their classic duel at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
Leon Marchand was the third man inside 1:55 when he went 1:54.82 at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July, securing gold while going well inside Laszlo Cseh’s European record that had stood since 2009.
Wang’s previous best was the 1:55.00 in which he won the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021 which was then an Asian standard, cutting 0.07 from the previous mark of 1:55.07 set by Hagino in 2016.
Kosuke Hagino: Photo Courtesy: Takao Fujita
The pair met in international waters on many occasions through the years before Hagino retired following the Tokyo Olympics.
Hagino won the 200IM ahead of Wang at the 2014 Asian Games before the finishing positions were reversed four years later.
In between, Hagino won silver to Wang’s bronze behind Phelps at the 2016 Olympics where he also came away with 400IM gold and 4×2 bronze.
Come Tokyo and the Japanese swimmer finished sixth in what was the last final of an illustrious career.
Hagino, who was in Hangzhou commentating for Japanese TV, singled out Wang as well as Pan Zhanle’s 46.97 in the 100 free as real breakthroughs for Asian swimmers.
He told Swimming World:
“The biggest highlight for me this week was the 200IM which I used to swim.
“To see Wang of China swim 1:54.6 – that particularly was impressive personally.
‘I was proud to see him go sub 1:55 after all the years we swam against each other, and I think that’s
probably the biggest highlight of the week for me.”
He added:
“Ryan’s 1:54.00 is one of the records I used to chase and the fact that it’s been standing for the past 12 years shows how amazing of a feat it is.
“Marchand becoming the third person to break into the 1:54 mark further shows how talented he is.
“I know how hard it is considering I used to chase that record and to see a fellow Asian swimmer like Wang break into the 54 mark and be the fourth person to do so is astonishing and I am proud of him.
“To also see an Asian swimmer break into the 46 mark in the 100 free is also mind-blowing.”
China dominated the pool in Hangzhou with 28 golds among a 58-strong medal haul ahead of Republic of Korea, with six golds and 22 medals, and Japan (five golds, 30 medals).
Several young swimmers have shone with several having already enjoyed success on the global stage.
Wang Shun; Photo Courtesy: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports
Two-time world 200 free medallist Hwang Sunwoo and Korea teammate Kim Woomin left Hangzhou with five golds and 10 medals between them.
Pan – still in his teens – went fifth all-time in the 100 free, 0.11 outside David Popovici’s world record while medallists Mio Narita of Japan and Korean Lee Eun-ji are 16 and 17 respectively.
These Games have indicated the depth of quality in Asian waters with Paris 2024 less than 10 months away – albeit with a World Championships to come in Doha in February next year.
Hagino said:
“The Asian Games are usually held right in between the Olympic phase and usually for Asian countries it is considered a meet where young swimmers are able to build international experience and compete at a high level under the spotlight in preparation for the Olympics.
“But this year is very different with the Asian Games and World Championships being the year before the Olympics.
“Yet despite this irregularity, situation there’s been a ton of high-level records this year.
“The dozen of world records set at Fukuoka was definitely a wake-up call for our country and we need to do whatever we can to learn from this.”