IPPEI WATANABE

BIRTHDAY
1997.3.18
CITY
Oita
BLOOD TYPE
A
HEIGHT
193cm
WEIGHT
78kg
CLUB
Toyota Motor Corporation

PROFILE

Olympic record holder in men's 200-meter breaststroke
Time / 2:07'22
Personal record in men's 200-meter breaststroke
Time / 2:06'67 (World's fourth-fastest time)

He was born in Oita in 1997.
He started to learn swimming from the second grade of elementary school. When he was a third-grade junior high school student, he entered the 51st National Junior High School Swimming Championship and the 66th National Athletic Meet.
In 2012, he entered Oita Prefectural Saiki Kakujo High School and cut a figure in swimming.
He represented Japan at Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and won a gold medal in men's 200-meter breaststroke.
In 2015, he was admitted to Faculty of Sport Sciences of Waseda University.
In 2016, he won the second place at the 92nd Japan National Championships by defeating Olympic medalists Kosuke Kitajima, Ryo Tateishi, which granted him the chance to become one of the Japanese representatives at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He set a new Olympic record of 2:07'22 in the men's 200-meter breaststroke semi-final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In January 2017 at the 10th Kosuke Kitajima Cup in Tokyo, he became the new record holder in men's 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:06'67.
In July 2017 at the 17th FINA World Aquatics Championships, he represented Japan and won a bronze medal in men's 200-meter breaststroke.
In 2018, he won a gold medal in men's 200-meter breaststroke at the 13th Pan Pacific Swimming Championships which was his first gold medal at major championship. In the same year, he became one of the Japanese representatives in swimming at the 18th Asian Games and won a silver medal in men's 200-meter breaststroke.
Ippei Watanabe graduated from School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University in March 2019 and signed to Toyota Motor Corporation. He participated in The 95th All Japan Swimming Championship held in April 2019 and claimed his first victory in this championship. He will be one of the Japanese representatives to compete at The 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships which will be held in July 2019.
He participated in The 18th FINA World Championships in July of the same year winning bronze medals of The FINA World Championships twice in a row. 【On this championship, Anton Chupkov (Russia) set a new world record of 2:06'12 breaking Ippei Watanabe's record (2:06'67).】
In December 2020, he ranked first in men's 200m breaststroke event of JAPAN SWIM 2020, scoring two consecutive wins in this contest.

WORKS

TV

August 5, 2019NHK-BS1 "Sports×Human"
July 16, 2019tv asahi "Houdou Station"
July 2, 2019NTV "news every."
May 11, 2019tv asahi "Sekai Suiei Diary"
April 23, 2019NHK-BS1 "BS1 Special Kitajima Kosuke ga Mita Nihon Suiei"
April 7, 2019NTV "Going! Sports & News"
March 14, 2019tv asahi "GET SPORTS"

Commercial

2019GMO CLICK Securities "Kyouei wa, Dantaisen da."

Web

FINA 200m Breaststroke World Ranking

2019Olympic and Paralympic Project Promotion Section, Waseda University "Feature on athletes from Waseda University"
2019#YOGJOURNEY: IPPEI WATANABE READY TO MAKE WAVES AT TOKYO 2020 (English)
2019Olympic Channel
"Danshi Hiraoyogi 200m Sekai Kiroku Hojisha Watanabe Ippei '2-fun Kiri' e no Chousen"

2021Olympic Channel
Athletes of the new generation: Ippei Watanabe, a new generation ace of the swimming world

2021Nihon Keizai Shimbun
"Visual Tokyo 2020" Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Swimming 200m Breaststroke: With pride in the "strong points"


Sports Hochi
Athlete Column 2020 (web series)
September 2020Self-management of the portrait right, bringing new possibilities to the swimming world...
November 2020In order to become "an absolute champion"...
February 2021Becoming a swimmer who will be remembered along with his records...

Mainichi Shimbun
Athlete Kousaten 2020 (web series) ~Becoming an unforgettable swimmer~
June 2018 Rivals are the source of growth
October 2018The loud cheering in the home competitions becomes the strength
December 2018Training in winter yields good results
February 2019Training at a high altitude changes the mind
April 2019Swimming "easily and fast" to the new world record
June 2019Avenging the defeat to the arch rival
August 2019Faster than expected
October 2019Changing the environment and aiming for breakthrough
December 2019Setting a new world record together with evolved teammates
February 2020Rise of young athletes Comparing with yourself 4 years ago
July 2020Feeling the joy of swimming in the swimming pool after two months
October 2020Calmly facing the unusual season
January 2021Starting a decisive year with confidence

Magazine

June 2019 issue of GENKOSHA's "PHOTO TECHNIC DIGITAL"

Newspaper

July 25, 2019 Nishinippon Shimbun "Tokyo Gorin made Ichinen Saisoku Swimmer Shinka"
July 24, 2019 THE SANKEI NEWS "CountDown Tokyo 2020"
July 20, 2019 NIKKEI "Watanabe Shin no Sekaiichi e Toushi"
July 17, 2019 Sports Nippon "2020 THE STORY Hiyaku no Himitsu"
July 17, 2019 Sports Hochi "TOKYO 2020 SPORTS HOCHI SPECIAL REPORT"
July 5, 2019 Nishinippon Sports "Kyushu Hatsu 2020"
May 1, 2019 Nikkan Sports "Watanabe Ippei Reiwa Saisho no Sekai Shin e"
March 26, 2019 Nishinippon Sports "Kizuna Diary ~Senshu no Sugao~"
January 4, 2019 Tokyo Shimbun "Sports Heisei Shinkaron"
October 26, 2018 OITA GODO SHIMBUN Special feature in celebration of the 90th anniversary of Oita Association "Interview TOKYO 2018"

Series

【Newspaper】
April 2018~ Mainichi Shimbun bimonthly series "Athlete Kousaten 2020"

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