Takashi Nakano

Takashi Nakano (中野 高, Nakano Takashi, born July 21, 1984) is a Japanese former swimmer, who specialized in backstroke events. He collected a total of three silver medals in the 200 m backstroke at the Universiade (2003 in Daegu, 2005 in Izmir, and 2007 in Bangkok). Nakano is also a graduate at Hosei University in Tokyo.

Nakano made his international debut at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, where he earned a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke, clocking at 2:00.78.

At the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal, Canada, Nakano broke a two-minute barrier, but rounded out the final field in last place by 0.17 of a second behind Croatia's Gordan Kozulj in 1:58.91. Nakano also lowered his personal best to 1:59.34, but added a bronze to his silver from Busan in the same stroke at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Nakano competed for the Japanese squad in the men's 200 m backstroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to the Games, he placed second behind Ryosuke Irie at the Olympic trials in Tokyo with a FINA A-standard entry time of 1:58.22. He challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including Austrian duo Sebastian Stoss and two-time Olympic silver medalist Markus Rogan. Nakano raced to sixth place by a 0.15 of a second behind Stoss in a time of 1:59.59. Nakano missed out the semifinals by 0.65 of a second, as he placed twenty-first overall in the preliminary heats.

At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Nakano broke his personal best of 1:57.02 in the 200 m backstroke, but finished only in twelfth place and did not qualify for the final.