was a Japanese

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

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 represented his native country in three consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, starting in 1984. His best Olympic result was the 7th place (2:14.70) in the Men's 200m Breaststroke event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

. He was the grandson of Hisakichi Toyoda, who won a gold medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle in 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 du ...

. At the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games (), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1986 (), were held from 20 September to 5 October 1986, in Seoul, South Korea. The venues and facilities of the 10th Asiad were the sa ...

in Seoul, Watanabe won the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke and the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke. Watanabe again won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the

1990 Asian Games ) , nations = 31 , athletes = 6,122 , events = 308 in 27 sports , opening = 22 September 1990 , closing = 7 October 1990 , opened_by = Yang Shangkun , closed_by = Roy de Silva , athlete_oath = Chen L ...

in Beijing. He also won silver medals in the 100m breaststroke and the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Watanabe died at his home on September 18, 2017. He was 48 years old.Japanese Olympian Kenji Watanabe Passes Away at Home in Tokyo
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References

External links

* * 1969 births 2017 deaths Olympic swimmers for Japan Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1986 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1990 Asian Games Japanese male breaststroke swimmers Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games swimmers for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games 20th-century Japanese sportsmen Asian Games silver medalists in swimming Asian Games bronze medalists in swimming Asian Games gold medalists in swimming {{Japan-swimming-bio-stub