2026 Asian Games: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2026 ASIAN GAMES

• September twentieth – September twenty fifth (pool swimming)
• Prelims at 10am native (9pm earlier night time ET)/Finals at 5pm native (4am ET)
• Tokyo Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Live Results
• Recaps

It’s the third prelims session from Tokyo on the 2026 Asian Games from Tokyo, which is able to see the heats of the ladies’s 100 free, males’s 400 IM, ladies’s 200 backstroke, males’s 1500 free, ladies’s 400 free, and males’s 4×100 medley relay.

Fresh off of a win within the 200 free, Siobhan Haughey is available in because the reigning Asian and Games file holder within the 100 free, and can look to assert a high seed for the night finals.

The males’s 400 IM  will function Asian Record Tomoyuki Matsushita, who’s already embellished profession will look so as to add an Asian Games gold medal to the combination.

Peng Xuwei leads the ladies’s 200 again with the highest entered time of two:06.71, hoping to safe her spot within the remaining to defend her 2023 title on this occasion.

We will even see the early heats of the lads’s 1500 free, and we’ll shut out with the ladies’s 400 free as the ultimate particular person occasion of the prelims, which is able to showcase Li Bingjie, who is among the quickest ever performers within the occasion’s historical past.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

Top 10:

1. Siobhan Haughey (HKG) – 53.60
2. Kayla Sanchez (PHI) – 54.22
3. Cheng Yujie (CHN) – 54.50
4. Yu Yiting (CHN) – 54.61
5. Nagisa Ikemoto (JPN) / Yeonkyung Hur (KOR) – 55.14
6. (tie)
7. Shiho Matsumoto (JPN) / Sum You Li (HKG) – 55.58
8. (tie)
9. Pei-yin Liu (TPE) – 55.81
10. Heather White (PHI) – 55.82

It could be because it was getting into the meet by way of the heats of the ladies’s 100 freestyle, as Siobhan Haughey cruised to the highest seed in 53.60.

Even although that point was nonetheless a few second and a half off of her Asian Games file time from 2023, Haughey was nonetheless the one swimmer within the occasion to clock a sub 54-second time.

Kayla Sanchez was the subsequent closest to Haughey, ending 2nd in 54.22.

Rounding out the record of sub 55-second perfromers had been China teammates Cheng Yujie and Yu Yiting in 54.50 and 54.61, respectively.

Men’s 400 IM – Prelims

• World Record: 4:02.50, Leon Marchand (FRA), 2023
• Asian Record: 4:05.83, Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN), 2026
• Games Record: 4:07.75, Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 2014
• 2023 Champion: 4:11.40, Tomoru Honda (JPN)

Top 10:

1. Tomoyuki Matsushita (JPN) – 4:21.05
2. Yumeki Kojima (JPN) – 4:21.54
3. Minsuk Kim (KOR) – 4:21.54
4. Wang Shun (CHN) – 4:23.17
5. Gu Enyi (CHN) – 4:23.23
6. Quang Thuan Nguyen (VIE) – 4:23.55
7. Minesop Kim (KOR) – 4:23.75
8. Gian Santos (PHI) – 4:24.25
9. Hung Nguyen Tran (VIE) – 4:24.33
10. Khai Xin Tan (MAS) – 4:24.38

In the prelims of the lads’s 400 IM, all ten of the qualifiers had been separated by simply over three seconds, with the highest three all handing over sub 4:22 prelims performances.

Matsushita backed up his pre-meet high seed standing with a heats-leading 4:21.05, about half a second quicker than his fellow Japanese teammate Yumeki Kojima in 4:21.54.

Korea’s Minsuk Kim additionally received himself contained in the prelim high three in 4:21.80, separating himself from the duo from China in Wang Shun (4:23.17) and Gu Enyi (4:23.23) in 4th and fifth.

Women’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

• World Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2023
• Asian Record: 2:06.46, Zhao Jing (CHN), 2010
• Games Record: 2:06.46, Zhao Jing (CHN), 2010
• 2023 Champion: 2:07.28, Peng Xuwei (CHN)

Top 10:

1. Peng Xuwei (CHN) – 2:09.38
2. Rio Shirai (JPN) – 2:10.66
3. Eunji Lee (KOR) – 2:11.61
4. Sun Mingxia (CHN) – 2:11.69
5. Sum Yuet Chung (HKG) – 2:12.54
6. Mio Narita (JPN) – 2:12.78
7. Xeniya Ignatova (KAZ) – 2:14.29
8. Xiandi Chua (PHI) – 2:14.87
9. Ya-jia Chang (TPE) – 2:15.55
10. Mia Millar (THA) – 2:16.69

Peng Xuwei, the reigning champion on this occasion on the Asian Games seemed to be heading in the right direction to defend her title in 2026, claiming the highest seed for finals in 2:09.38.

She solely trailed for the primary 50 meters of the prelims, flipping nearly a 3rd of a second behind 2nd place finisher Rio Shirai on the first flip. The remainder of the wat was managed by Peng, Ultimately taking the highest day trip of the heats by effectively over a second.

Shirai was one in all solely three different swimmers within the prelims to the touch beneath 2:12, stopping the clock in 2:10.66.

Korea’s Eunji Lee and China’s Sun Mingxia every touched in 2:11-times, with Lee turning within the third quickest time within the prelims of two:11.61, and Sun simply behind in 2:11.69.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle – Slower Heats

• World Record: 14:26.79, Johannes Liebmann (GER), 2026
• Asian Record: 14:31.02, Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
• Games Record: 14:35.43, Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
• 2023 Champion: 14:55.47, Fei Liwei (CHN)

‘B’ Final Results:

1. Saadeddin Saadeddin (QAT) – 15:21.33
2. Russel Pang (SGP) – 15:22.16
3. Tran Tuan Anh Mai (SGP) – 15:33.97
4. Aryan Nehra (IND) – 15:34.71
5. Robert Bonsall (BRN) – 15:34.88
6. Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry (MAS) – 15:38.23
7. Eric Q Chen (HKG) – 15:47.74

Only two males managed to dip beneath the 15:30 mark within the slower finals of the lads’s 1500 freestyle.

Saadeddin Saadeddin of Qatar delivered the highest time of the early heats in 15:21.33, having to carry off Singapore’s Russel Pang in 15:22.16.

The ‘A’ remaining will function quite a lot of main performers, together with Zhang Zhanshuo, Kaito Tabuchi, and Woomin Kim.

Women’s 400 Freestyle – Prelims

• World Record: 3:54.18, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
• Asian Record: 3:58.21, Li Bingjie (CHN), 2025
• Games Record: 4:01.96, Li Bingjie (CHN), 2023
• 2023 Champion: 4:01.96, Li Bingjie (CHN)

Top 10:

1. Waka Kobori (JPN) – 4:10.98
2. Yang Peiqi (CHN) – 4:11.02
3. Li Bingjie (CHN) – 4:11.38
4. Ichika Kajimoto (JPN) – 4:12.66
5. Ching Hwee Gan (SGP) – 4:13.05
6. Dakyung Han (KOR) – 4:14.54
7. Gilaine Ma (HKG) – 4:18.23
8. Kamonchanok Kwanmuang (THA) – 4:20.31
9. Victoria Lim (SGP) – 4:20.51
10. Chaeyun Kim (KOR) – 4:20.62

In an attention-grabbing prelim growth, it was Japan’s Waka Kobori who turned within the quickest qualifying time in 4:10.98, over a pair of distinguished Chinese freestyle figures.

China did see Wang Peiqi and Li Bingjie end 2nd and third out of the prelims in 4:11.02 and 4:11.38, respectively. Both of which had been clean, finals-qualifying swims. While the instances from prelims is probably not too mind-blowing now, there could also be some fireworks in retailer for the occasion remaining.

Only one different swimmer managed to swim beneath 4:13 within the prelims, that being Kobori’s teammate Ichika Kajimoto in 4:12.66.

Men’s 4×100 Medley Relay- Prelims

• World Record: 3:26.78, United States, 2021
• Asian Record: 3:27.01, China, 2023
• Games Record: 3:27.01, China, 2023
• 2023 Champion: 3:27.01, China

Top 8:

1. Japan – 3L33.62
2. China – 3:36.56
3. Kazakhstan – 3:38.65
4. Indonesia – 3:38.97
5. Korea – 3:39.17
6. Singapore – 3:39.76
7. India – 3:40.41
8. Thailand – 3:40.51

Japan closed out the prelims session with an emphatic race within the males’s 4×100 medley relay.

Side by facet with China, the Japanese workforce of Hidekazu Takehara, Shin Ohashi, Shoon Mitsunaga, and Shuya Matsumoto stormed to an empatic warmth win in 3:33.62, practically two second faster than China (3:36.56).

Takehara took it out laborious on the backstroke in opposition to China’s Jiang Chenglin, touching simply over 4 tenths forward in 54.23, then got here one other battle between Shin Ohashi and Qin Haiyang, although it will be Haiyang pushing the tempo, and giving China the lead on the midway level.

Mitsunaga rapidly regained the lead on the fly for Japan, splitting 24.15/27.06 to Wang Xizhe‘s 24.39/27.54 for China. Matsumoto would have to hold off Zhang Zhanshuo, who delivered the fastest ever 200-meter relay split on day 2, and that would prove to not be an issue, as Matsumoto anchored in 48.04, significantly faster than Zhang’s 50.46 for China.