was a Japanese swimmer who competed at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. Kawatsu was a native of

Hiroshima City is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

, where his father was a physical education instructor at the predecessor of

Hiroshima University is a Japanese national university located in Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, Japan. Established in 1929, it was chartered as a university in 1949 following the merge of a number of national educational institutions. History Under the Nationa ...

. 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 , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, 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 The 1934 Far Eastern Championship Games was the tenth edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 16 to 20 May in Manila, the Philippines. A total of eight sports were contested d ...

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

References

* Lohn, John. ''Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming''. Scarecrow Press, (2010).
Profile
1914 births 1970 suicides 1970 deaths Sportspeople from Hiroshima Meiji University alumni Olympic swimmers for Japan Swimmers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Suicides in Japan Suicides by self-immolation Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Japanese male backstroke swimmers 20th-century Japanese people {{Japan-Olympic-medalist-stub

References

Further reading