Kentaro Kawatsu

Kentarō Kawatsu

Kentaro Kawatsu (left), Toshio Irie and Masaji Kiyokawa at the 1932 Olympics
Personal information
Native name	河津憲太郎
Nationality	Japan
Born	(1915-09-26)September 26, 1915 Hiroshima, Japan
Died	March 23, 1970(1970-03-23) (aged 54)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	backstroke
Medal record Representing Japan Olympic Games 1932 Los Angeles 100 m backstroke

Kentaro Kawatsu (河津憲太郎, Kawatsu Kentarō, September 26, 1914 – March 23, 1970) was a Japanese swimmer who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Kawatsu was a native of Hiroshima City, where his father was a physical education instructor at the predecessor of Hiroshima University. In 1930, while still in middle school, Kawatsu set a new Japan record of 33.2 seconds for the 50-meter backstroke. In 1932, while a student at Meiji University, he was selected for the Japanese Olympic team to the Los Angeles Olympics. The team took the gold, silver and bronze medals in the 100 meter backstroke event, with Kawatsu winning the bronze medal.

He subsequently participated in the 1934 Far Eastern Games held in Manila.

Kawatsu committed suicide by burning himself to death on March 23, 1970.

Further reading

• Lohn, John. Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming. Scarecrow Press, (2010). ISBN 0810867753
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