Tomoyuki Matsushita, 21, ripped six seconds off his own best to smash a 400m world record — in front of a home crowd in Saga

On day two of the Japanese Short Course Championships in Saga Prefecture, Olympic silver medalist Tomoyuki Matsushita led wire to wire and touched in 3:54.33 in the 400m individual medley, erasing Daiya Seto's 3:54.81 world record from 2019. Just last year his best was 4:00.44 — he carved more than six seconds off it in one swim, finishing five seconds ahead of silver medalist Asaki Nishikawa. The patient front half set up a storming breaststroke and freestyle finish. Fourth-fastest ever over the long course too, Matsushita is now the man to beat heading to the short-course world championships.