Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.
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 has a history of producing elite 200 butterfly swimmers, and the tradition continued on Friday as three men broke 1:56 in the final at the Japan Student Championships in Tokyo.
Claiming the victory was Ei Kamikawabata, a 20-year-old from Meiji University who came from behind to touch first in a time of 1:55.39, his first time under the 1:56 barrier.
Kamikawabata lowered his previous best time of 1:56.45, set at the 2024 Japan Open, to win the title, running down early leader Hirohiro Kawano (1:55.87) and holding off So Ogata (1:55.50).
Kamikawabata was only slightly faster than his previous PB pace through 150 meters, but rocketed home in 29.84, nearly a second faster than he closed last year.
Split Comparison – Kamikawabata’s Best Times
| Kamikawabata, 2024 |
Kamikawabata, 2025
|
| 26.06 | 26.03 |
| 55.72 (29.66) | 55.45 (29.42) |
| 1:25.70 (29.98) | 1:25.55 (30.10) |
| 1:56.45 (30.75) | 1:55.39 (29.84) |
In the race on Friday, Kawano set a blistering pace early and held a big lead at the final turn, but faded coming home and was run down by both Kamikawabata and Ogata.
Split Comparison – Kamikawabata vs Ogata vs Kawano
| Kamikawabata | Ogata | Kawano |
| 26.03 | 25.90 | 25.59 |
| 55.45 | 55.58 (29.68) | 54.68 (29.09) |
| 1:25.55 (30.10) | 1:25.69 (30.11) | 1:24.57 (29.89) |
| 1:55.39 (29.84) | 1:55.50 (29.81) | 1:55.87 (31.30) |
Coming into the meet, Kamikawabata owned a season-best of 1:57.34 in the 200 fly, set at the Japanese Nationals in March. His performance on Friday moves him up to 21st in the world for the 2025 calendar year and 3rd among Japanese swimmers, only trailing Genki Terakado (1:54.64) and Ogata (1:55.34) while overtaking Tomoru Honda (1:55.40).
Kamikawabata has some international experience under his belt, winning gold in the boys’ 400 IM and bronze in the 200 fly at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, and then adding another bronze in the 200 fly at the 2022 World Juniors. In 2023, he won bronze in the 400 IM at the World University Games.
Follow arena USA on Instagram here.
About arena
arena has revolutionized the world of aquatic sport through insightful collaboration with world class athletes and the development of cutting edge competitive swimwear since 1973. Today, this spirit of collaboration and innovation lives on through a continuous evolution of advanced materials and Italian design that improves the performance, style and expression of all those who chose arena. From leading the lanes to living in style, arena is dedicated to providing all swimmers with the tools they need to express themselves, feel confident, win and achieve more. Because in arena, you can.
