Tokyo, Sept. 25 -- Shin Ohashi may spend his spare time on his phone, enjoy junk food and, according to his coach, resemble an ordinary Japanese high school student.
In the pool, the 17-year-old is anything but ordinary. Ohashi broke the men's 200-meter breaststroke world record at the 2026 Asian Games on Thursday, clocking 2 minutes, 4.83 seconds to become the first swimmer to set a world record at the Games.
"I was able to put into the race what I had been training for, so I think it was a perfect race," Ohashi said. The performance has attracted the attention of some of swimming's biggest names, including France's Leon Marchand.
"I'm scared. I'm very scared of him," Marchand said with a laugh. "He's still so young. His coach is really...