Katsumi Nakamura

Katsumi Nakamura
Born Feb. 21, 1996 Katsumi Nakamura is a Japanese swimmer. Standing about 6’0″ Nakamura is a rising star on the swimming scene, specializing in sprint freestyle and backstroke.

2014 Japanese Nationals
Nakamura first made headlines in 2014, when he competed at the Japanese Nationals. He swam the 50m freestyle, where he finished second in the race, and hit a qualifying mark for Pan Pacs.

2015 Japan Open
At the Japan Open in 2015 Nakamura shocked everyone. He won the 100m freestyle, and the broke the Japanese Record. His swim tied as the eighth-fastest 100m freestyle swim of the year. He made huge progress from 2014, and was more than one second slower the year prior. Japan hasn’t won an Olympic medal since 1960, and Nakamura gives the country hope in 2016.

2015 rankings
In 2015 Nakamura is one of the top-10 fastest swimmers in the 100m freestyle worldwide.

2018 Pan Pacific Championships

On day 2, Nakamura swam the 100 free, finishing 6th overall in a very tight final (48.49). On day 3, he led off Japan’s 4×100 free relay (48.52) that finished 4th overall, but ultimately wound up winning the bronze after USA was DQ’ed for swimming in the wrong order. On day 4, Nakamura  touched 4th in the 50 free in a time of 22.24, just outside of the medals. He finished off his pan pacs performance that day with a silver in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, racing Nathan Adrian to the finish and getting touched out for the gold by .05, splitting 47.83.

2018 Asian Games

Nakamura continued his 2018 medal haul in Jakarta, as this time he took double silver in the 50 (22.20) and 100 (48.72) freestyle. He also helped Japan to relay gold in the 4×100 free relay, and swam prelims of the 4×100 medley relay, which wound up earning silver.

2018 Short Course World Championships

Nakamura capped off his 2018 season in Hangzhou, where he helped Japan to a bronze medal in the 4×100 medley relay, anchoring in a split of 45.63.

2022(3) Asian Games (Hangzhou, China)

Nakamura only found his way onto the podium on relays. In the 400 free relay, he led off in a 48.75 to help Japan to bronze. He later anchored the Japanese 400 medley relay to another bronze with a 48.16 split.

International Medals

Place Event Year Meet
Bronze 400 Medley Relay 2018 Short Course World Championships
Gold 400 Freestyle Relay 2018 Asian Games
Silver 50 Free 2018 Asian Games
Silver 100 Free 2018 Asian Games
Silver 400 Medley Relay 2018 Asian Games
Bronze 400 Freestyle Relay 2022 Asian Games
Bronze 400 Medley Relay 2022 Asian Games
Silver 400 Medley Relay 2018 Pan Pacific Championships
Bronze 400 Freestyle Relay 2018 Pan Pacific Championships

Best Times

Course Event Time Date Meet
lcm 50 Free 21.90 06/13/15 2015 Mare Nostrum Series
Monte Carlo, Monaco
lcm 100 Free 48.49 08/10/18 2018 Pan Pacific Championships
Tokyo, Japan
Katsumi Nakamura 2017 World Championships Budapest, Hungary (photo: Mike Lewis) Katsumi Nakamura (photo: Mike Lewis) Katsumi Nakamura (photo: Mike Lewis) Katsumi Nakamura 2017 World Championships Budapest, Hungary (photo: Mike Lewis) Katsume Nakamura (photo: Mike Lewis)