Ryuichi Shibata

Who is Ryuichi Shibata?

Ryuichi Shibata is a Japanese swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. Shibata broke both his personal best and Japanese record of 1:51.30 at the 2007 FINA World Cup in Singapore, until it was finally smashed by Hidemasa Sano at the Japan Swimming Open in 2010. Shibata is a student at Nihon University in Tokyo.

In 2006, Shibata won a bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, and a silver at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, finishing behind American swimmer and world-record holder Michael Phelps.

Shibata qualified for the men's 200 m butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing a FINA A-standard entry time of 1:55.57 from the Olympic trials in Tokyo. His surprising triumph also suffered a major upset for two-time Olympic medalist Takashi Yamamoto, who finished only in third place and thereby failed to compete at his supposedly fourth games. Shibata recorded an eleventh fastest time of 1:55.82 in the preliminary heats to secure his spot for the semifinals. Followed by the next morning's session, Shibata failed to qualify for the final, as he finished his semifinal run with a fourth-slowest time of 1:56.17.