By Jo Hsuan, Wu
OCA Young Reporter from Chinese Taipei
Tokyo, Japan, September 28, 2026: Less than a year before becoming an Asian Games champion, 17-year-old Japanese swimmer Yumeki Kojima went through a period when something that had been part of his life since he was three suddenly no longer felt natural.
“Last October, I reached a point where I didn’t know how to swim anymore,” Kojima said. By a training camp in December, the struggle had become even harder. “I felt mentally broken and it was a difficult time.”
His road to the Asian Games brought another challenge. Around three weeks before the competition, Kojima injured his knee. He was worried but, rather than rushing to return, he gradually increased the intensity of his training and worked on getting his swimming back into shape.
Then came the men’s 200m individual medley. Kojima finished in 1:55.36, just 0.06 seconds behind fellow Japanese swimmer Tomoyuki Matsushita. The result gave him silver, but also left him with a feeling he carried into the 400m individual medley.
“I was really frustrated that I lost the 200m,” he said. “So I went into the 400m with a strong feeling that I was definitely going to win.”
Kojima did exactly that, taking gold in 4:07.02 and setting a world junior record.
Swimming has been part of Kojima’s life since he was three, but he said his love for the sport did not truly begin until much later. It was in his third year of junior high school, when he competed overseas for the first time, that he first felt he genuinely loved swimming.
The sport also has a place in his family. His father was a swimmer, but when Kojima was asked whether he sees him as a role model, a coach or simply his father, his answer was immediate.
“He’s my dad.”
Outside the pool, Kojima describes himself simply as someone who enjoys having fun with his friends. Asked what he likes most about himself, he laughed and said he was not sure.
But when asked what he would tell the three-year-old version of himself who was just beginning to swim, his answer was clear.
“Go at your own pace. Don’t worry about the people around you, and keep going.”
