About

Kenji Ikeda is a retired backstroke swimmer from Japan. He represented his native country at two consecutive Asian Games, in 1978 and 1982 where he won a total of four gold medals and a bronze one. He is best known for breaking a record at a 100m backstroke competition from the 1978 Asian Games while only 18 years of age. He became the first athlete in Asia to break the 1-minute mark in the men's 100-meter backstroke, timing 59.91 to take the gold medal for Japan. He held the record until 1983.