By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2026 ASIAN GAMES
September 20th – September 25th (pool swimming) Prelims at 10am local (9pm previous night ET)/Finals at 5pm local (4am ET) Tokyo Aquatics Centre LCM (50m) Meet Central Entries Live Results Recaps Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 Finals: Day 1 | Day 2Day three of the 2026 Asian Games brought us another thrilling IM race after Japanese teammates Tomoyuki Matsushita and Yumeki Kojima already sparred for the top two slots in the 200m event earlier in the competition.
Whereas Olympic silver medalist Matsushita grabbed the gold in that shorter race, 17-year-old Kojima got the job done in spades this time around in the 400m IM.
21-year-old Matsushita, the #1 swimmer in the world this year with his 4:05.83 Asian Record from last month, led the teen through the breaststroke, but that’s where Kojima turned on the jets big-time to surpass his mentor.
Ultimately, Kojima got to the wall in a time of 4:07.02, a massive new lifetime best and World Junior Record to pair with his 200m IM WJR-setting silver.
Entering this competition, Kojima’s career-swiftest and WJR rested at the 4:08.69 he put up at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships. That means he hacked over a second and a half off that performance to set the new mark, also taking down Japanese Olympic icon Kosuke Hagino‘s Asian Games record of 4:07.75 in the process. Hagino’s standard had stood for over a decade.
Kojima is now Japan’s 4th-fastest men’s 400m IM performer of all time, again at just 17 years of age.
Japanese Men’s Top 10 LCM 400 IM Performers All-Time
Tomoyuki Matsushita – 4:05.83, 2026 Kosuke Hagino – 4:06.05, 2016 Daiya Seto – 4:06.09, 2020 Yumeki Kojima – 4:07.02, 2026 Asaki Nishikawa – 4:07.67, 2025 Kosuke Makino – 4:09.79, 2025 Tomoru Honda – 4:09.98, 2023 Yuya Horihata – 4:10.52, 2012 Takeharu Fujimori – 4:10.90, 2017 Kaito Tabuchi – 4:11.15, 2024Split Comparison:
Kojima’s New WJR – 4:07.02 Kojima’s Old WJR – 4:08.69 56.16 56.55 1:04.25 1:02.90 1:09.72 1:11.03 56.89 58.21MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL
World Record – 4:02.50, Leon Marchand (FRA), 2023 World Junior Record – 4:08.69, Yumeki Kojima (JPN), 2026 Asian Record – 4:05.83, Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN), 2026 Games Record – 4:07.75, Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 2014 2023 Champion – Tomoru Honda (JPN), 4:11.40GOLD – Yumeki Kojima (JPN), 4:07.02 *World Junior Record, Asian Games Record* SILVER – Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN), 4:09.64 BRONZE – Wang Shun (CHN), 4:14.59
Japan dominated the men’s 400m IM; however, the winner wasn’t Olympic silver medalist and current world No. 1, Tomoyuki Matsushita.
Instead, 17-year-old World Junior Record holder Yumeki Kojima stole the spotlight, crushing a new lifetime best and WJR of 4:07.02.
The teen trailed Matsushita after the first two legs but made up major ground on the breaststroke to bring the pair even heading into freestyle.
Matsushita entered this competition with a massive PB and Asian Record of 4:05.83 but settled for runner-up status well over two seconds behind (4:09.64) the emerging monster that is Kojima. Last night Matsushita anchored the Japanese men’s 4x200m free relay, so perhaps that last effort to try to catch Zhang in the race took its toll on the swimmer this evening.
Kojima’s outing, which included an eye-popping final 50m of 26.85, erased the former WJR of 4:08.69 he registered at the Pan Pacific Championshps. He also deleted Japanese Olympic icon Kosuke Hagino‘s former Asian Games standard of 4:07.75 put on the books over a decade ago. Look for a separate post detailing Kojima’s remarkable performance.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Yumeki Kojima Nails World Junior Record #2 At Asian Games: 4:07.02 400 IM
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