First in human history to crack the seven-second barrier

Ippei Watanabe, a student at Waseda’s School of Sport Sciences, set a new world record for the men’s 200-m breaststroke at 2 minutes 6.67 seconds in the Kosuke Kitajima Cup 2017 on January 29. He became the first in human history to go under 2 minutes 7 seconds.

Watanabe had already broken the Olympic record in the same event during the semifinal round in Rio, in a time of 2 minutes 7.22 seconds, but finished sixth in the final. Since then, he has been training intensively for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Waseda University congratulates Watanabe for his remarkable achievement.