2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Ryo Tateishi Of Japan Comes Out Of Retirement

Japan has a new potential contender among its breaststrokers as 34-year-old Ryo Tateishi has come out of retirement in the hopes of making the nation’s squad for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Tateishi earned bronze in the men’s 200m breaststroke at the 2012 Olympic Games when he was 23 years of age. He was ready to chase more hardware at the 2016 Games in Rio but was sidelined by an injury to his right elbow.

Tateishi told Asian media recently, “The nerve in my elbow was disconnected. I started taking painkillers once every six months from around 2010, and then about once a month in the end.” (HochiNews)

He underwent surgery in 2014 but lost sensation in part of his right hand due to nerve removal. This affected his feel for the water and body balance while swimming. He persevered to make the Japanese national team in 2015 but missed out on making the Rio roster. He ultimately retired in April 2017.

In 2021, Tateishi began regenerative treatment on his elbow via CellSource, a company whose treatment ‘aims at tissue repair by injecting growth factors extracted from a patient’s own platelets.’ The process is reportedly less stressful on the body than surgery. Japanese Major League Baseball pitcher Shohei Ohtani has also undergone this same treatment.

Fueled by renewed body and spirit, Tateishi feels he’s ready to try for a comeback in the men’s 100m breaststroke. “I enjoy swimming more now (than before I retired),” he said recently. (HochiNews)

Tateishi recently competed at the 2023 Japanese Adult Swimming Championships where he produced a time of 1:03.90 in the 100m breast to place 23rd. A minimum result of 1:01.29 is required to be able to compete at the Japanese Olympic Trials in March.

Not deterred, however, Tateishi said, “I wish we could put even a little bit of pressure on young people. When old guys get faster, they think, “I don’t want to lose to the old guys. I think it would be great if I could be in that position.” (HochiNews)