Qin Haiyang
Awards & Honours
12
Awards Won
2
Honours
2
Rankings
2
Covers
4
Records
Qin Haiyang's record rests on a single afternoon in Fukuoka that no other swimmer had ever managed. Winning the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke at one World Championships is a feat of range and recovery that the sport had never seen, and he did it while setting a world record in the longest of the three. The Male Swimmer of the Year award that followed made him the first Asian swimmer to hold that title, a distinction that matters in a sport long dominated by American and European breaststrokers.He backed the breakthrough with Olympic gold in Paris, then handled the loss of his world record in 2026 with a grace that earned as much coverage as the record itself. Few athletes at his level get to define both how they win and how they lose.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Recognition for Olympic achievements
State recognition for his gold medals at the Paris Olympics
First Asian Male Swimmer of the Year
First Asian swimmer to be named Male Swimmer of the Year by the sport's governing body
Rankings & Lists
Top-ranked 100m breaststroke swimmer
World Aquatics breaststroke rankings
Magazine Covers
Swimming World Magazine
2026
Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year feature
Sports Illustrated China
2024
Post-Olympic feature cover
Records & Feats
First swimmer to win all three breaststroke events at a single World Championships
Swept the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka
200m breaststroke world record of 2:05.48
Set in the Fukuoka final and held until Shin Ohashi broke it with 2:04.83 in September 2026
First Asian swimmer named World Aquatics Male Swimmer of the Year
Received the honor for the 2023 season after his World Championship sweep
World junior record holder in the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley
Held junior world marks in two events simultaneously before his senior breakthrough