2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
- Hangzhou, China
- Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
- SCM (25m)
- Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
- *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
- Live Results (Omega)
The Japanese men set a new Asian Record in the final of the 4×100 medley relay, clocking in at 3:21.07 to lower their 3:22.92 from the 2014 Championships in Doha.
Ryosuke Irie led them off in 49.95, putting them 5th, though only half a second off the lead. Yasuhiro Koseki produced the 2nd fastest breast split in the field in 55.91 to move them up into 2nd, only trailing the Russians.
Takeshi Kawamoto split 49.58 on fly to move them past Russia, but Caeleb Dressel of the United States went 48.28 to open up a big lead for the Americans. Katsumi Nakamura was 3rd fastest in the field on freestyle in 45.63, but he was overtaken by Vlad Morozov (45.01) as Japan ultimately ended up with the bronze behind the U.S. and Russia, who were both under the Championship Record.
Both Irie and Koseki were also apart of the 2014 team that previously held the Asian Record. All four of their splits on the relay tonight were faster than they were in Doha. Take a look at the split comparison between the two teams below:
| Japan, 2014 SC Worlds | Japan, 2018 SC Worlds |
| Irie – 50.28 | Irie – 49.95 |
| Koseki – 56.62 | Koseki – 55.91 |
| Hagino – 49.98 | Kawamoto – 49.58 |
| Shioura – 46.04 | Nakamura – 45.63 |
| 3:22.92 | 3:21.07 |