By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2026 ASIAN GAMES
September 20th – September 25th (pool swimming) Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan LCM (50m) Meet Central EntriesThe 2026 Asian Games are nearly upon us, with pool swimming action beginning on Sunday, September 20th.
Among the nations competing at the prestigious multi-sport discipline will be Japan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many others, giving us a deep field among both the men’s and women’s aquatic events.
This year’s competition is set to bring the Games back to their traditional four-year cycle after the 2022 edition was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the 2022 edition, the nation of China was the overwhelming team winner in pool swimming, reaping a remarkable total of 62 medals, including 30 golds.
That was nearly triple the amount of hardware runner-up Korea captured, with the country taking home 23 medals, including 6 golds.
Japan rounded out the top three performers, snagging 31 medals, but just 5 golds.
Medal Table at the 2022 Asian Games (Held in 2023)
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China (CHN) 30 22 10 62 2 South Korea (KOR) 6 6 11 23 3 Japan (JPN) 5 11 15 31 4 Hong Kong (HKG) 2 2 3 7 5 Chinese Taipei (TPE) 0 1 0 1 Singapore (SGP) 0 1 0 1 7 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 0 0 2 2 Vietnam (VIE) 0 0 2 2Because powerhouse nations such as Japan and China hold an arsenal of formidable swimming weapons, it was difficult to narrow down a list of just five key men and five key women to watch over the course of the competition.
As such, the following men’s lineup, in no particular order, just scratches the surface in terms of the battles we may see unfold, with this meet representing an important milestone along the journey to the 2028 Olympic Games.
Five Men to Watch at the 2026 Asian Games
Shin Ohashi (JPN)
Making his Asian Games debut is Shin Ohashi of Japan, the 17-year-old prodigy who has been on a tear as of late, becoming one of the most dangerous breaststrokers on the planet.
Ohashi enters the competition as the World Junior Record holder in both the 100m and 200m distances, owning respective lifetime bests of 58.54 and 2:06.59. Those performances rendered the teen the 12th-best 100m breaststroker and 7th-best 200m breaststroker of all time.
In the longer event, Ohashi has already cleared the 2:07 barrier an impressive three times in his young career, with previous efforts of 2:06.96 and 2:06.91 last season to prove his WJR wasn’t a fluke.
Although stakes will be high for the youngster competing in front of a home crowd, Ohashi is no stranger to not only competing but landing on the podium at elite international events.
On the junior circuit, he is a two-time Junior Pan Pacific Championships gold medalist and a two-time World Junior Championships gold medalist, earning a total of five medals at the latter competition in Otopeni.
More recently, on the senior stage. Ohashi clinched silver in the 100m breast, bronze in the 200m breast and bronze as a member of Japan’s medley relay at this year’s Pan Pacs.
One could argue that Ohashi’s 2breast is his stronger event; however, at last month’s 49th National Junior Olympic Cup (JOC) Summer Swimming Championships in Tokyo, the teen ripped a monster split of 57.35 on his squad’s men’s 4x100m medley relay.
That performance made the Japanese ace the 5th-fastest breaststroke relay split performer of all time, with his mark representing the 13th-best performance ever and the swiftest outside of a major elite international championship.
As damaging as Ohashi has the potential to be in his native Japan, his path to the podium will not be smooth sailing. Among the men who could rain on his potential gold medal-winning campaign is Qin Haiyang of China, a two-time Olympic relay medalist and the dynamo who completed the 50m/100m/200m breaststroke sweep at the 2023 World Championships.
Qin, the current World Record holder in the 200m breaststroke, also swept the discipline at the last edition of the Asian Games and will not be willing to relinquish his titles without a big-time fight.
Additional men’s breaststrokers to keep an eye on in Ohashi’s races include world champion Dong Zhihao of China, teammate Ippei Watanabe of Japan and Korea’s Choi Dongyeol.
Pan Zhanle (CHN)
22-year-old Pan Zhanle of China is the fastest performer ever in the men’s 100m freestyle, owning the World Record at the otherworldly benchmark of 46.40 he produced at the 2024 Olympic Games. That beat the field by over an entire second, putting Pan at the top of the list as the best to ever do it.
Pan has proven he not just a one-trick pony, having shown his aptitude in the 200m free and 400m free events as well. He ranks as the nation’s 3rd-fastest performer in the former with a lifetime best of 1:44.65 and 6th-swiftest in the latter with a PB of 3:54.34.
Based on performances at the Chinese qualifying meet, the speedster is entered in just the 100m free as his sole individual event, adding the race to a trio of relays including the men’s 4x100m free, 4x200m free and 4x100m medley.
The men’s 100m freestyle event is featured on day one of the Games, meaning 2022 Asian Games gold medalist Pan will be fresh and ready to rumble once the starting gun goes off, a frightening prospect if you’re Tatsuya Murasa, Hwang Sunwoo, Kim Youngbeom, Ian Ho or any other man entered in the marquee event.
Pan’s fastest time this year checked in at the modest 47.91 he logged at the Chinese National Games this past June, a time which situated him just 24th in the overall season rankings.
He saw a trio of men rip sub-47 efforts at the European Games last month, with David Popovici of Romania hitting 46.56, Egor Kornev of Russia logging 46.74 and Kristof Milak of Hungary delivering a time of 46.87.
These three lengthened the list of sub-47 club members to now consist of eight swimmers, perhaps fueling Pan’s fire to produce something truly special next week in Nagoya.
Zhang Zhanshuo (CHN)
Teenager Zhang Zhanshuo of China is a force to be reckoned with on the freestyle front, as a five-time World Junior Championships medalist, three-time World Championships relay medalist and two-time Pan Pacific Championships medalist at just 19 years of age.
Zhang owns the World Junior Record in the men’s 400m free, courtesy of the 3:42.82 he put on the books at the 2025 National Games last November. He improved upon that effort in his move to the senior ranks, setting a lifetime best of 3:41.55 at the China Open this past March to rank as China’s #3 performer of all time.
The 800m free also fell victim to Zhang at the China Open, with the ace delivering a powerful performance of 7:44.45 to become the fastest Asian since Sun Yang in 2011. Zhang’s performance beat Germany’s World Record holder Lukas Märtens as a major confidence boost with these Games on his radar.
In another head-turning swim, Zhang registered a new lifetime best of 14:51.93 to take the 1500m free at the China Open and demonstrated his range by also capturing a PB of 1:44.53 in the 200m.
All told, Zhang ended his 2026 season by shaking up the all-time Asian rankings to be positioned as the 3rd-fastest Asian ever in the 200m, 4th in the 400m, 3rd in the 800m and 6th in the 1500m.
The teen’s primary competition will come in the form of Korean Hwang Sunwoo in the 200m, Kim Woomin, also of Korea in the 400m and teammate Fei Liwei in the 800m/1500m. However, with the upward trajectory on which he’s traveling, it appears the sky is the limit when it comes to Zhang’s potential as his career continues.
Hwang Sunwoo (KOR)
Korea’s Olympic finalist Hwang Sunwoo has a trio of 200m freestyle World Championships medals under his belt, having earned silver in 2022 Budapest, bronze in 2023 Fukuoka and gold in 2024 Doha.
He finished off the podium last year in Singapore, however, settling for fourth place, fueling his intense desire to successfully defend his 200m freestyle title from the 2022 edition of the Asian Games.
Hwang said last month, “Ahead of this competition, I gained 10kg in weight and have been consistently doing strength training at night. My goal is to break my personal best record in the 200m.”
It was at the Korean National Sports Festival just last October where the 23-year-old unleashed a lifetime best 1:43.92 to overtake the longstanding Asian Record of 1:44.39 once-banned Sun Yang of China put on the books at the 2017 World Championships. That placed Hwang in the exclusive club of sub-1:44 swimmers to rank as the 7th all-time best performer in the event.
Hwang will also play a crucial role in Korea’s attempt to make history once again in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay. Three years ago he teamed up with Yang Jaehoon, Lee Hojoon, Kim Woomin to rip a new Asian record en route to capturing the nation’s first-ever gold in the event.
Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN)
Tomoyuki Matsushita reaped Japan’s sole medal at the 2024 Olympic Games, capturing silver in the men’s 400m IM behind French World Record holder Leon Marchand.
Since then, Matsushita has done anything but rest on his laurels, continuously lowering his lifetime bests in both the 400m IM and 200m IM to keep his competition on its toes.
In the shorter race, the now-21-year-old dropped his time of 1:56.35 from March of 2025 down to 1:55.60 in November of that year, before clocking 1:55.51 earlier this month to become Japan’s #2 performer of all time and the 14th-swiftest man worldwide in history.
Looking at the longer event, Matsushita brought his 4:08.62 time from Paris down to 4:07.21 in September of 2025, then 4:06.93 this past March followed by 4:06.75 at this year’s Pan Pacs before busting out a monster lifetime best of 4:05.83 at a domestic meet.
His most recent performance erased the longstanding national and Asian record of 4:06.05 retired icon Kosuke Hagino put on the books en route to winning gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Matsushita is now the 4th-best performer in history, with the swim making him the fastest man outside of a major elite international meet. He is also just the 5th man ever to break the 4:06 barrier in the event.
Outside of veteran Olympic medalist Wang Shun of China, Matsushita’s most dangerous competition rests in teammate Yumeki Kojima, the 17-year-old who has made a name for himself as of late.
Kojima owns a 200m IM lifetime best of 1:55.62 from this year and also nailed a new World Junior Record of 4:08.69 at Pan Pacs. He’ll be chasing Matsushita in both events in front of a home crowd, with the pair hoping to bring Japan a 1-2 finish when the dust settles.
Additional Headliners: Kim Woomin (KOR), Kim Youngbeom (KOR), Yumeki Kojima (JPN), Tatsuya Murasa (JPN), Qin Haiyang (CHN), Wang Shun (CHN), Xu Jiayu (CHN), Ji Yuchan (KOR), Ian Ho (SGP), Lee Juho (KOR)
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