2025 Worlds, Day 3 Asia Recap: 34-Yr-Old Satomi Suzuki Hits Lifetime Best

2025 World Championships

Tonight’s session at the 2025 World Championships saw two ends of the age spectrum represent the nation of Japan, with a rising star and a veteran each clocking new lifetime bests.

First, 18-year-old Tatsuya Murasa ripped a big-time PB of 1:44.54 to earn a surprise bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle.

The Japanese National High School record holder got to the wall behind winner David Popovici of Romania and runner-up Luke Hobson of the United States, putting his first-ever sub-1:45 second result on the board in the process.

Later in the women’s 100m breaststroke medal-contending race, 34-year-old Satomi Suzuki punched a result of 1:05.78 to fall just .14 outside of the medals.

That outing overtook the veteran’s previous lifetime best of 1:05.91 established at the 2024 Japanese Olympic Trials.

Suzuki was a three-time Olympic medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, including becoming the bronze medalist in the 100m breaststroke.

Last year in Paris, the seasoned star placed 12th in the 100m breast but finished 4th in the 200m breast, which she will also be racing here in Singapore.

Suzuki shows no signs of slowing down, so look for something special to potentially come from the ace when the longer distance unfolds beginning Thursday, July 31st.

Additional Notes

  • 2023 world champion Qin Haiyang of China followed up his 100m breaststroke victory by taking the 50m breast top seed tonight in 26.52.
  • Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo fell short of reaching his 4th consecutive World Championships podium in the 200m free, relegated to 4th in a time of 1:44.72.
  • After breaking her national record during the women’s 1500m freestyle heats, Singapore’s own Ching Hwee Gan ultimately placed 7th in a time of 16:03.51.
  • Tang Qianting earned bronze in the women’s 100m breaststroke (1:05.64) and her opening split of 29.84 was only .33 off her own Chinese national record of 29.51 in the individual 50m breast from last year’s World Championships.

Asian National/Continental Records

  • Li Bingjie, Women’s 400m freestyle (3:58.21) – Chinese & Asian Records
  • Ching Hwee Gan, Women’s 400m freestyle (4:09.82) – Singapore Record; Women’s 800m freestyle (8:29.93) – Singapore Record; Women’s 1500m free (16:01.29) – Singapore Record
  • Denis Petrashov, Men’s 100m breaststroke (58.88) – Kyrgyzstani Record
  • Samiul Islam Rafi, Men’s 100m backstroke (58.36) – Bangladeshi Record
  • Enkhatmir Batbayar, Men’s 200m freestyle (1:50.26) – Mongolian Record; Men’s 100m backstroke (57.25) – Mongolian Record
  • Chen Juner, Men’s 200m butterfly (1:54.02) – Chinese Record

Asian Medal Table Through Day Three of 2025 World Championships

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 1 1 1 3
2 Japan 0 0 1 1
3 South Korea 0 0 1 1
3 Krgyzstan 0 0 1 1

 

Overall Swimming Medal Table Through Day Three of 2025 World Championships

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1
Australia
3 1 2 6
2 U.S. 2 5 3 10
3 Canada 2 0 1 3
4 Germany 2 0 0 2
5 China 1 1 1 3
6 France 1 0 1 2
7 Romania 1 0 0 1
7 South Africa 1 0 0 1
9 Italy 0 4 1 5
10 Belgium 0 1 0 1
10 Switzerland 0 1 0 1
12 Japan 0 0 1 1
12 Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 1
12 South Korea 0 0 1 1
12 Netherlands 0 0 1 1

In This Story

4
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

4 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Raw-Bee
10 months ago

Congratulations Satomi !!
Very inspiring to see your longevity in a sport we love. Continued fast swims this week !!

Sue Shi
10 months ago

exactly mother

colorado mesa #1 fan
10 months ago

asian games 4×2 gonna be fire. Japan should return as a contender(as they always were until a few years ago and they reached an all time low by almost getting lapped at sc worlds last year I believe) with murasa and 1:45 splits in honda and Matsumoto already. im not sure if they have a 4th leg tho similar to korea. I think all three East Asian countries literally can’t find a consistent 4th leg. if there was a 3×200 all three would be cooking

colorado mesa #1 fan
Reply to  colorado mesa #1 fan
10 months ago

actually china does have the most consistent relay out of the three. I forgot about them. I think they have 6 1:45 or better splits if they include wang shun

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

Read More »