Japan’s precocious 18-year-old Akihiro Yamaguchi set a new world record in the men’s 200-metre breaststroke today at the national games.
The high-school student clocked two minutes 07.01 seconds, breaking the previous world mark of 2:07.28 set by Daniel Gyurta of Hungary on August 1 at the London Olympics.
“To tell the truth, I targeted to clock 2:06:00s,” Yamaguchi said after his record-breaking swim in Gifu, central Japan, adding that he was eager to show off his talent on the world stage.
“I’m really looking forward to the world championships next year. I want to be a swimmer who can succeed (Kosuke) Kitajima, whom I admire a lot,” he added.
Yamaguchi failed to qualify for the Olympic 100m and 200m races after he finished third over both distances in the national championships, which were won by two-time double Olympic gold medallist Kitajima.
However, Kitajima, 29, did not win a medal in the 100m and 200m breaststroke in London.
Yamaguchi came close to Gyurta’s 200m world mark when he swam 2:07.84 at a national high-school meet on August 17.
“Since I started working under the wing of coach Norimasa Hirai, I became stronger mentally and my body became bigger. I think I can compete against the world in the 200 metres. I also want to compete in the 100 metres,” he said.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.