arena Swim of the Week: Japan’s Next Sprinting Star Murasa Drops 48.87 100 Free At 17

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Japan didn’t have any entrants in the men’s 100 freestyle at the Paris Olympics, but come LA 2028, that likely won’t be the case.

That’s due to the emergence of Tatsuya Murasa, a 17-year-old who has been on a steady rise throughout the past year.

Murasa represented Japan in Paris in the 4×200 free relay, and after accruing that experience, the sky’s the limit for the burgeoning sprinter.

Last November at the age of 16, Murasa put up a time of 49.42 at the Japan Open, which for context would rank him 7th all-time in the U.S. in the boys’ 15-16 age group.

Now 17, Murasa has continued to progress. He broke the 49-second barrier in August at the Japan Inter-High School Championships, clocking 48.99 to lower his own National High School Record, and he followed that up with another best time this week.

Competing at the 78th annual Japanese National Sports Festival, Murasa fired off a time of 48.87 in the 100 free, re-breaking his high school record and personal best.

The difference for Murasa in his swim this week came on the back half, as he came storming home with a 25.18 split after closing in 25.43 last month.

Split Comparison

In the last three years, the only 17-year-olds who have been faster than Murasa are David Popovici (46.86), Pan Zhanle (47.65), Jacob Whittle (48.19), Flynn Southam (48.23), Ksawery Masiuk (48.37), Maximus Williamson (48.38) and Diogo Ribeiro (48.52).

Murasa is now the 11th-fastest performer of all-time among Japanese swimmers, and is positioned to take over as one of the country’s best entering this next Olympic quad. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (48.28) is the only Japanese swimmer ranked in the top 100 worldwide in the men’s 100 free for 2024.

Murasa also showed off his ability in the 200 free, leading off his school’s relay in 1:46.76, just shy of the personal best he set leading off Japan’s relay at the 2024 Olympics (1:46.69).

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