Japan’s Shoon Mitsunaga breaks S’porean Joseph Schooling’s Asiad record to claim men’s 100m fly gold

TOKYO – Former Japanese high-school baseball player Shoon Mitsunaga knocked it out of the park by winning the Asian Games men’s 100m butterfly final from an outside lane in a national record of 50.56sec at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sept 23.

Finishing ahead of China’s Xu Fang (50.73) and Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto (51.36), he also lowered Joseph Schooling’s previous Games record (51.04) set at the 2018 Asiad in Indonesia, although the retired Singaporean still retains the Asian record (50.39) from his historic gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Though a translator, a smiley Mitsunaga told The Straits Times: “I definitely know of Joseph Schooling. Then, I was a young boy who was full of awe and admiration to see an Asian athlete had won Olympic gold.

“Now, I want to follow in his footsteps to become another Asian Olympic champion in this event. But first, I’m aiming to work hard and break his Asian record.”

After learning of the result, 31-year-old Schooling, who retired in 2024, congratulated Mitsunaga and said he had expected his record to fall, and is looking forward to how fast the Japanese and the next generation can go.

He added: “Records are meant to be chased, challenged and eventually broken.

“Seeing it happen eight years later is a great reminder of how much the sport has continued to grow and progress. It’s exciting to see the next generation stepping up, pushing the standards higher, and showing what’s possible.”

Mitsunaga began swimming in his childhood but shared that he has “only three years of international competition experience” as he was a “two-way athlete” who also excelled as a fourth batter in baseball since elementary school.

He chose to focus on swimming during his third year at Nihon University Toyama High School, admitting: “

I was hitting well in practice games, but there were times when I couldn’t get my swing right.

I was confident that I could improve more in swimming and have a better chance to reach the world stage than in baseball.”

His

Asiad feats

has proven him right, even if he was hit with a four-month ban recently having tested positive for the banned substance tulobetrol at the Japan Intercollegiate Championships in September 2025 after using a

cough suppressant.

Qualifying in seventh place, he leapt off Lane 1 in the final, found himself behind only Bahrain’s Mikhail Arkhangelskiy at the turn, and turned on the afterburners to touch the wall first

as the home fans went wild.

After celebrating with a fist pump, Mitsunaga said: “Since my suspension ended in March, I’ve been working towards a new Japanese record, so I’m very happy to be able to do it in front of everyone in Japan at the Asian Games held in Tokyo.”

Mitsunaga’s gold was the only one that eluded powerhouses China, who swept the other six events on the fourth day of the swim meet.

Zhang Zhanshuo, 19, won the men’s 200m freestyle final in an Asian record of 1min 43.49sec for his fourth gold at his first Asiad, ahead of South Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo (1:44.62) and Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa (1:44.81). Hwang owned the previous mark of 1:43.92.

Also in her debut Games, 13-year-old wonderkid Yu Zidi bagged her third gold by winning the women’s 400m individual medley final in a Games record of 4:28.56, in front of 15-year-old Chinese Ke Wenxi (4:32.51) and Japan’s Mio Narita (4:33.45) while Singapore’s Victoria Lim (4:54.32) was 10th.

Speaking volumes of her ability and ambition, Zidi said she was disappointed to just miss out on compatriot Ye Shiwen’s Asian record by 0.13sec.

In the women’s 100m breaststroke final, Tang Qianting was under the world-record (1:04.13) line at the 75m mark before touching the wall first in a Games record time of 1:04.98 in front of Japan’s Satomi Suzuki (1:05.38) and Kotomi Kato (1:06.37). Singapore’s Mikayla Tan (1:09.43) was eighth.

Peng Xuwei topped the women’s 100m backstroke in 59.30, followed by Japan’s Rio Shirai (59.89) and South Korea’s Kim Seung-won (1:00.10).

There was an upset in the women’s 100m butterfly final where Yu Yiting (56.41) pipped defending champion Zhang Yufei to gold by 0.03sec, with Hong Kong’s Natalie Kan (58.05) completing the podium.

Rikako Ikee (58.25), who had leukemia in 2019, a year after she won six golds and two silvers at the 2018 Asiad as an 18-year-old, was fifth and missed a medal by 0.20sec, but bounced back to help Japan claim a mixed 4x100m medley relay silver in 3:43.98, sandwiched by China (3:40.38) and South Korea (3:44.12). Singapore (4:01.72) were eighth.

Welling up, Ikee, who is in remission, said: “I feel sad not to be able to give my best. I’m not good off the blocks (her reaction time of 0.78 ranked last), so I have to improve more on my swimming, but because of my condition, I have to work harder than others.”

Meanwhile, Xu Jiayu, who led off with the backstroke for China, became the Asian Games’ most successful athlete after the medley triumph took his tally across four editions to 15 golds, surpassing retired Chinese shooter Wang Yifu’s 14 golds.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.