Mio Narita (成田 実生, Narita Mio; born 18 December 2006) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the 2022 World Junior…Mio Narita (成田 実生, Narita Mio; born 18 December 2006) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the 2022 World Junior champion and 2022 Junior Pan Pacific champion in both the 200-metre individual medley and the 400-metre individual medley. She is a former world junior record holder in the 400-metre individual medley.
Konosuke Yanagimoto (柳本幸之介, Yanagimoto Kōnosuke, born 24 November 2003) is a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the men's…Konosuke Yanagimoto (柳本幸之介, Yanagimoto Kōnosuke, born 24 November 2003) is a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Shiho Matsumoto (Japanese: 松本信歩; born 3 April 2002) is a Japanese competitive swimmer who specialises in the individual…Shiho Matsumoto (Japanese: 松本信歩; born 3 April 2002) is a Japanese competitive swimmer who specialises in the individual medley and freestyle events. She represented Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi–Nagoya. At the 2026 Asian Games, she won a silver medal in the mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay and a bronze medal in the women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay.
Hiroko Makino (牧野 紘子, Makino Hiroko; born 20 August 1999) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in the women's 200 metre…Hiroko Makino (牧野 紘子, Makino Hiroko; born 20 August 1999) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in the women's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. At the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Hawaii, United States, Makino won a silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley with a time of 4:45.23 and a bronze medal in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay, where she split a 2:02.62 to contribute to the final time of 8:09.26.
Katsumi Nakamura (中村 克, Nakamura Katsumi; born 21 February 1994) is a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 ×…Katsumi Nakamura (中村 克, Nakamura Katsumi; born 21 February 1994) is a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He qualified to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Kyosuke Oyama (小山 恭輔, Oyama Kyosuke, born 26 December 1987) is a Paralympic swimmer from Japan competing mainly in…Kyosuke Oyama (小山 恭輔, Oyama Kyosuke, born 26 December 1987) is a Paralympic swimmer from Japan competing mainly in category S6 events. Oyama grew up in Higashikurume in the western part of the Tokyo metropolits. As a junior high school student, he was paralyzed in half of his body. He competed in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle at the 2008 Summer Paralympics but it was in the 50m butterfly that he won his only medal, a silver behind Xu Qing of China who broke the world record in winning the race.
Kazuya Kaneda (金田 和也, Kaneda Kazuya; born November 5, 1987) is a Japanese butterfly swimmer. At the 2012 Summer…Kazuya Kaneda (金田 和也, Kaneda Kazuya; born November 5, 1987) is a Japanese butterfly swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's 200 metre butterfly, finishing in 7th place overall in the heats, but finished 6th in his semifinal and did not make the final. He married swimmer Haruka Ueda in 2014.
Takashi Nakano (中野 高, Nakano Takashi; born July 21, 1984) is a Japanese former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke…Takashi Nakano (中野 高, Nakano Takashi; born July 21, 1984) is a Japanese former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He collected a total of three silver medals in the 200 m backstroke at the Universiade (2003 in Daegu, 2005 in İzmir, and 2007 in Bangkok). Nakano is also a graduate of Hosei University in Tokyo. Nakano made his international debut at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, where he earned a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke, clocking at 2:00.78. At the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Nakano broke the two-minute barrier, but rounded out the final field in last place by 0.17 of a second behind Croatia's Gordan Kozulj in 1:58.91. Nakano also improved his personal best to 1:59.34, adding a bronze to his silver from Busan in the same stroke at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Nakano competed for the Japanese squad in the men's 200 m backstroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to the Games, he placed second behind Ryosuke Irie at the Olympic trials in Tokyo with a FINA A-standard entry time of 1:58.22. He challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including Austrian duo Sebastian Stoss and two-time Olympic silver medalist Markus Rogan. Nakano raced to sixth place by a 0.15 of a second behind Stoss in a time of 1:59.59. Nakano missed out the semifinals by 0.65 of a second, as he placed twenty-first overall in the preliminary heats. At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Nakano broke his personal best of 1:57.02 in the 200 m backstroke, but finished only in twelfth place and did not qualify for the final.
Kosuke Kitajima (北島 康介, Kitajima Kōsuke; born September 22, 1982) is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won…Kosuke Kitajima (北島 康介, Kitajima Kōsuke; born September 22, 1982) is a Japanese retired breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals at the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Summer Olympics – becoming the first and only swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at consecutive Olympic games.
Naoko Kawashima (born 7 April 1981) is a Japanese synchronized swimmer who competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer…Naoko Kawashima (born 7 April 1981) is a Japanese synchronized swimmer who competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.
Junko Isoda (磯田 順子, Isoda Junko; born 11 March 1981) is a Japanese former swimmer who competed in the 2000 Summer…Junko Isoda (磯田 順子, Isoda Junko; born 11 March 1981) is a Japanese former swimmer who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Hitomi Kashima (鹿島 瞳, Kashima Hitomi; born February 26, 1980) is a retired Japanese female butterfly swimmer. She…Hitomi Kashima (鹿島 瞳, Kashima Hitomi; born February 26, 1980) is a retired Japanese female butterfly swimmer. She represented Japan at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She also won a silver medal at the 1997 FINA Short Course World Championships.
Keita Kaneto (金戸恵太, Kaneto Keita; born 29 April 1967) is a Japanese diver. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the…Keita Kaneto (金戸恵太, Kaneto Keita; born 29 April 1967) is a Japanese diver. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Kiyomi Takahashi (高橋 清美, Takahashi Kiyomi; born 3 March 1966) is a Japanese former swimmer who competed in the 1984…Kiyomi Takahashi (高橋 清美, Takahashi Kiyomi; born 3 March 1966) is a Japanese former swimmer who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Naoko Kume (久米 直子, Kume Naoko; born 29 April 1963) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in two events at the 1984 Summer…Naoko Kume (久米 直子, Kume Naoko; born 29 April 1963) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in two events at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Sachiko Yamazaki (山崎 幸子, Yamazaki Sachiko; born 3 June 1962) is a Japanese former freestyle swimmer. She competed in…Sachiko Yamazaki (山崎 幸子, Yamazaki Sachiko; born 3 June 1962) is a Japanese former freestyle swimmer. She competed in two events at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Hiroshi Ishii (石井 宏, Ishii Hiroshi) (born 21 September 1939) is a Japanese swimmer and Olympic medalist. He…Hiroshi Ishii (石井 宏, Ishii Hiroshi) (born 21 September 1939) is a Japanese swimmer and Olympic medalist. He participated at the 1960 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay.
Atsushi Tani (谷 野, Tani Atsushi; born 14 November 1933) is a Japanese former swimmer. He competed in two events at the…Atsushi Tani (谷 野, Tani Atsushi; born 14 November 1933) is a Japanese former swimmer. He competed in two events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
Hiroshi Suzuki (鈴木 弘, Suzuki Hiroshi; born September 18, 1933) is a retired Japanese freestyle swimmer. He competed in…Hiroshi Suzuki (鈴木 弘, Suzuki Hiroshi; born September 18, 1933) is a retired Japanese freestyle swimmer. He competed in the 100 m and 4×200 m relay events at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won two silver medals in 1952. In the 100 m event in the 1952 Olympics, Hiroshi actually posted an identical time to the eventual gold medal winner, Clarke Scholes of the US. Officials used a judges decision to award Clarke Scholes the gold medal and Hiroshi Suzuki the silver medal. He won gold medals in these two events at the 1954 Asian Games.
Shigeo Takahashi (高橋 成夫, Takahashi Shigeo; 29 March 1912 – 4 November 1990) was a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the…Shigeo Takahashi (高橋 成夫, Takahashi Shigeo; 29 March 1912 – 4 November 1990) was a Japanese swimmer. He competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympics and the water polo tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Katsuo Takaishi (高石 勝男, Takaishi Katsuo; October 14, 1906 – April 13, 1966) was a Japanese swimmer, swimming coach and…Katsuo Takaishi (高石 勝男, Takaishi Katsuo; October 14, 1906 – April 13, 1966) was a Japanese swimmer, swimming coach and sports administrator. Takaishi was born in Osaka and graduated from Waseda University. During the 1923 Far Eastern Games held in Osaka, he won all three freestyle swimming events, which secured him a place on the Japanese Olympic team. At the 1924 Olympics, Takaishi placed fourth in the 4 × 200 meter freestyle relay and fifth in the 100 m freestyle and in the 1500 m freestyle event. Although he did not win a medal, it was the first time that a swimmer from Asia finished next to the podium. From 1924 to 1928, Takaishi won every international competition he attended, except when racing against Johnny Weissmuller. At the 1928 Olympics, as the leader of the Japanese swimming team, Takaishi won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle, becoming the first Asian to win an Olympic medal in swimming. He finished fourth in a 400 m semifinal and thus did not advance to the final. At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles Takaishi served as team captain and coach for the Japanese team, which won all men's events save one. After his return to Japan, he wrote a book, Swimming in Japan, which was published in 1935. He served as general director of the Japanese national swimming team for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and was chairman of the Amateur Swimming Federation of Japan. Takaishi died of lung cancer at the age of 59. He was posthumously honored with induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1991.
Reona Aoki (青木 玲緒樹, Aoki Reona; born 24 February 1995) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre…Reona Aoki (青木 玲緒樹, Aoki Reona; born 24 February 1995) is a Japanese swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. She qualified to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Yasuko Tajima (田島 寧子, Tajima Yasuko) (born 8 May 1981 in Kanagawa) is a former medley swimmer from Japan. She won the…Yasuko Tajima (田島 寧子, Tajima Yasuko) (born 8 May 1981 in Kanagawa) is a former medley swimmer from Japan. She won the silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Rikako Ikee (池江璃花子, Ikee Rikako; , Japanese: [ikee ɾiꜜkako]; born 4 July 2000) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She…Rikako Ikee (池江璃花子, Ikee Rikako; , Japanese: [ikee ɾiꜜkako]; born 4 July 2000) is a Japanese competitive swimmer. She is the national record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly, and the junior world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly long-course events, and the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, and 100-meter individual medley in short course. At the 2018 Asian Games, Ikee won six gold and two silver medals, also becoming the first female athlete to win the Most Valuable Player award at the Asian Games.
Kanako Watanabe (渡部 香生子, Watanabe Kanako; born 15 November 1996) is a Japanese competitive swimmer who specializes in…Kanako Watanabe (渡部 香生子, Watanabe Kanako; born 15 November 1996) is a Japanese competitive swimmer who specializes in the breaststroke. She competed in the 2012 London Olympics at the age of 15 for the 200m Women's Breaststroke event. She again competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. Her swimming coach is Ryuji Omi. She is the daughter of Keiji and Emiko Watanabe. Watanabe won the silver medal in the 200m medley at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia. She also won a gold medal in the 200 metres breaststroke, and she gave the gold medal to her coach, in a gesture of gratitude to him. She has qualified to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
