2026 JAPANESE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
On a day that saw a new World Junior Record in the 100m breaststroke at the hands of Yusei Imaizumi and Asian Records in the 1500m free and 100m IM by Kaito Tabuchi and Kosuke Makino, respectively, we saw a national record go down on the women’s side.
Racing in the final of the 100m breaststroke at the 2026 Japanese Short Course Championships, Kotomi Kato fired off a new lifetime best of 1:03.82 to take the decisive victory.
20-year-old Kato beat her competitors by nearly two seconds on the road to victory.
Yuyumi Obatake was the next swimmer to touch, hitting 1:05.78, followed by Hana Kurobe, who registered 1:06.49.
As for Kato, her effort this evening overtook the former Japanese national record of 1:04.01 that Reona Aoki put on the books at the 2022 edition of this competition.
Tonight, Kato opened in 30.19 and closed in 33.63 to put up the best time of her career and become Japan’s first-ever woman under the 1:04 barrier. Entering this meet, Kato had been as fast as 1:04.54 from two years ago.
As speedy as Asian Games champion Kato was tonight, she still has her work cut out for her to approach the Asian Record of 1:02.37 held by China’s Tang Qianting since the 2024 Short Course World Championships.
