Kazakhstan's swimming team ended the first day of competition at the 2026 Summer Asian Games in Japan without any medals. Aibat Myrzamuratov was the only Kazakh athlete to reach a final, infohub.kz reports.
He competed in the 200-meter individual medley. In the decisive race, the Kazakh swimmer clocked 2:00.37 to finish seventh.
Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita won gold in 1:55.30. His compatriot Yumeki Kojima was just 0.06 seconds behind in second place with 1:55.36. Bronze went to Chinese swimmer Wang Shun in 1:57.14.
The rest of Kazakhstan's representatives were eliminated in the preliminary rounds. In the 100-meter freestyle, Maksim Klimenko placed 13th and Adilbek Musin took 16th. Aleksandr Rumynskiy competed in the 100-meter backstroke heats and finished 17th, also failing to reach the final.
The 20th Summer Asian Games in Japan officially opened on September 19. Athletes from 45 countries will compete for 460 sets of medals: 217 in men's events, 204 in women's events and 39 in mixed events. The competitions will be held across 68 disciplines in 41 sports. Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games will feature 559 athletes.