is a Japanese swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He represented his nation

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and has won a career total of three medals (one silver and two bronze) in a major international competition, spanning the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, Pan Pacific Championships, and

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. Shibata also established both his personal best and Japanese techsuit-era record of 1:51.30 at the 2007 FINA World Cup in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, until it was finally smashed by Hidemasa Sano at the Japan Swimming Open in 2010. Shibata is a student 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. ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. In 2006, Shibata won a bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly at the

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

(1:56.44), and a silver at the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(1:55.82), finishing behind American swimmer and world-record holder

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

. Shibata competed for the Japanese squad in the men's 200 m butterfly at the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Leading up to the Games, he cleared a FINA A-standard entry time of 1:55.57 at the Olympic Trials in

. Moreover, Shibata's surprising triumph dashed the hopes of two-time Olympic medalist Takashi Yamamoto, who finished behind him in third and thereby missed out on his fourth Olympic bid. Despite entering the semifinals with an eleventh-seeded time of 1:55.82 from the evening prelims, Shibata tried to command his lead over all-time Olympian

at the final turn of the race, but faded down the stretch to hit the wall in seventh position and twelfth overall. Shibata's semifinal mark of 1:56.17 was not worthy enough to advance him further to the top 8 final.

References

External links

NBC 2008 Olympics profile
1983 births Living people Olympic swimmers of Japan Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in swimming Japanese male butterfly swimmers Sportspeople from Fukuoka (city) Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade 21st-century Japanese people {{Japan-swimming-bio-stub