was a Japanese

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He won the silver medal in the men's 1500m freestyle at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

. He broke the world record in the same event on August 16, 1949, clocking 18:35.7. That time was bettered the same day, however, by compatriot

Hironoshin Furuhashi was a Japanese Olympic freestyle swimmer. In 1948, he set world records in the 400 and 1,500 meter freestyles at the Japan national championships. Furuhashi and Japan were not allowed to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics because of Japan's r ...

at the American Swimming Championships in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Biography

Born in

Wakayama, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

, Hashizume took up swimming at school. He continued swimming at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

, which he entered in 1946 and graduated in 1951 with a law degree. Between 1952 and 1955 he worked for an insurance company, and then ran a swimming club in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. In 1987 he was awarded the Order of the Purple Ribbon "Shiju Hosho", and in 1992 inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

. Hashizume was married and has one daughter and one son. He was a member of the Board of Education in Yokohama City. Hashizume died from prostate cancer on March 9, 2023, at the age of 94.【速報】競泳五輪銀メダルの橋爪四郎さん死去

References

1928 births 2023 deaths Olympic swimmers for Japan Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Japan Sportspeople from Wakayama (city) World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Japanese male freestyle swimmers Olympic silver medalists in swimming 20th-century Japanese people Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan {{Japan-Olympic-medalist-stub

Biography

See also

References