Disclaimer: Dolfin 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 Dolfin Swim 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 been a dominant world force in the men’s 200 breaststroke, and 19-year-old Shoma Sato is continuing to build that legacy.
Japanese swimmers now make up 4 of the top 7 performers of all-time in the 200 long course meter breast, along with 5 of the top 12 swims in history. The latest is Sato’s 2:07.02, hit this week at the Japan Student Swimming Championships.
That time was a half-second drop for Sato, and checks him in as the 5th-fastest man of all-time in the event. Sato is on the cusp of becoming just the fourth man ever to break 2:07 in the event. Outside of Russia’s Anton Chupkov, who has been 2:06 on four separate occasions, only Ippei Watanabe (twice) and Matthew Wilson (twice) have been 2:06s in their careers.
The top performers and performances of all-time, per USA Swimming’s database:
Top Performers All-Time – Men’s 200 Breast
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.12
- Ippei Watanabe (JPN) / Matthew Wilson (AUS) – 2:06.67
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- Akihiro Yamaguchi (JPN) – 2:07.01
- Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:07.02
- Josh Prenot (USA) – 2:07.17
- Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN) – 2:07.18
- Daniel Gyurta (HUN) – 2:07.23
- Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:07.28
- Ross Murdoch (GBR) – 2:07.30
Top Performances All-Time – Men’s 200 Breast
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.12
- Ippei Watanabe (JPN) / Matthew Wilson (AUS) – 2:06.67
- —
- Matthew Wilson (AUS) – 2:06.68
- Ippei Watanabe (JPN) – 2:06.73
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.80
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.83
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.96
- Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:07.00
- Akihiro Yamaguchi (JPN) – 2:07.01
- Ippei Watanabe (JPN) / Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:07.02
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Didn’t Chupkov go 2:06.96 at 2017 worlds which should be #8 on the all time performances list?