Japan's Shin Ohashi, 17, smashes 200m breaststroke world record

Japan's Shin Ohashi, 17, has broken the men's 200m breaststroke world record at the Asian Games.

He won in 2 minutes 4.83 seconds on Thursday at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was his second gold of the Games BBC.

The 200m breaststroke is four lengths of a 50-metre pool. Ohashi went under the old mark by more than half a second. That is a large margin in an event often decided by a fingertip at the wall.

The previous record was 2:05.48. It was set by China's Qin Haiyang at the 2023 World Championships BBC. Ohashi took 0.65 seconds off it.

He did so after contracting Covid-19 in the build-up to the race. Before the meet, Ohashi said he believed he could break the record in a head-to-head race with Qin Taipei Times.

The swim in Tokyo backed up those words. Full splits and the margin to second place were not confirmed in the initial reports.

The 200m title followed a shared gold in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week. Ohashi tied for first with China's Dong Zhihao. Last year he won five golds at the World Junior Championships.

A junior record is a promise, not a career. This was different. A world record at 17, against senior opposition at a major Games, puts Ohashi at the front of the breaststroke field.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Zhang Zhanshuo, 19, claimed his sixth gold of the Games. China won the men's 4x100m freestyle relay to secure it.

For fans, this means the men's breaststroke has a new time to chase. The clock now reads 2:04.83. The next test is who can live with that pace over four lengths.