WATANABE Kanako

Date of Birth: 15 Nov 1996

Age: 24

Gender: Female

Height (m/ft): 1.67/5'5''

Place of birth: TOKYO

Birth Country:

Japan

Place of residence : TOKYO

Residence Country:

Japan

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Women's 100m Breaststroke
	Women's 200m Breaststroke
	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay JPN Japan	8

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Breaststroke - Heat 4	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 200m Breaststroke - Heat 3	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Heat 1	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Olympic Games

Year	Location	100Breast	200Breast
2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	SF (1:07.43)	SF (2:25.10)
2012	London, GBR	-	SF (2:27.32)

World Championships

Year	Location	100Breast	200Breast	200IndMed	4x100Medley W
2015	Kazan, RUS	4th (1:06.43)	1st (2:21.15)	2nd (2:08.45)	7th (DSQ)
2013	Barcelona, ESP	H (1:09.28)	-	SF (2:11.50)	-

Asian Games

Year	Location	200Breast
2018	Indonesia	1st (2:23.05)

Pan Pacific Championships

Year	Location	100Free	100Breast
2018	Tokyo, JPN	H (DNS)	H (1:00.35)

World Championships Short Course

Year	Location	100Breast	4x100Medley
2018	Hangzhou, CHN	8th (1:05.34)	4th (3:51.81)

Legend
Free - Freestyle, Back - Backstroke, Breast - Breaststroke, Fly - Butterfly, IndMed - Individual Medley, SF - Semifinal, H - Heats, DNS - Did Not Start, M - Men, W - Women, X - Mixed, DSQ - Disqualified, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not swim in final

Painting her nails, spending time with friends. (waseda.jp, 02 Oct 2018)

Occupation:

Sports Science - Waseda University, Tokyo, JPN

Languages spoken:

Norimasa Hirai [national], JPN; Yoshiaki Takemura [personal], JPN

2011 for Japan (tobiuojapan.org, 29 Jun 2015)

She fractured her left elbow during an athletics training session in August 2019. She underwent surgery and returned to competition in January 2020. (fina.org, 10 Apr 2021; nhk.or.jp, 05 Apr 2021; sanspo.com, 24 Jan 2020)

She also sprained her right ankle during an athletics training session in December 2016, and returned to competitive action in February 2017. (fina.org, 10 Apr 2021; nikkansports.com, 15 Apr 2017)

In 2009 she suffered an injury to her right shoulder. (huffingtonpost.jp, 08 Aug 2016; news.livedoor.com, 28 Jun 2011)

She began the sport at age four. (hochi.yomiuri.co.jp, 08 Apr 2012)

Her parents sent her to a swimming club to improve her health because she often got sick as a child. (wasedasports.com, 15 May 2015)

To win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. After retirement, she wants to run a swimming school. (nikkansports.com, 08 Apr 2021, 12 Jul 2017; waseda.jp, 02 Oct 2018)

Japanese swimmers Kosuke Kitajima, Satomi Suzuki and Natsumi Hoshi. (wasedasports.com, 15 May 2015; Swimming Magazine, 11 Apr 2013)

Japanese swimmer Rie Kaneto and coach Yoshiaki Takemura. (nikkansports.com, 08 Apr 2021, 20 Aug 2018)

She was given an Excellence Award at the 2018 and 2017 Japan Aquatics Awards. She was also named 2015 Swimmer of the Year at the Japan Aquatics Awards and received an Excellence Award at the 2015 Japanese Olympic Committee Sports Awards. (swim.or.jp, 29 Jan 2019; tobiuojapan.org, 23 Jan 2018; joc.or.jp, 03 May 2016; swim-media.com, 27 Jan 2016)

She received a Big Sports Special Award at the 2015 TV Asahi Big Sports Awards in Japan. (tv-asahi.co.jp, 15 Dec 2015)

She received the New Athlete Award at the 2011 Japanese Olympic Committee Sports Awards. (sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp, 12 Jun 2012)

General Interest

General
RETIREMENT THOUGHTS
She considered retiring from swimming after she did not make the Japanese team for the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. She then had further thoughts about giving up the sport following the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyko, before deciding to carry on. "I didn't want to waste what I've done so far. That made me flick my switch on in the summer of 2020. I feel more positive than in the past." (nhk.or.jp, 05 Apr 2021; mainichi.jp, 10 Dec 2020)

BREASTSTROKE FOCUS
She switched her attention from individual medley to breaststroke after injuring her right shoulder when she was in high school. (waseda.jp, 02 Oct 2018; hochi.yomiuri.co.jp, 08 Apr 2012)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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