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 round. Since then, he has been training intensively for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Waseda University congratulates Watanabe for his remarkable achievement.