Daichi Suzuki is a swimmer who has competed for Japan. He competed at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games.
Suzuki was considered one of the world's top backstrokers through the 1980s. When he first competed at Los Angeles 1984, he only reached the B-finals of the backstroke double with eleventh in the 100 and sixteenth in the 200.
Four years later in Seoul, Suzuki was less favored for the gold but two of the world's top backstrokers Igor Polianski and David Berkoff, who pioneered a new technique called the Berkoff Blastoff. In the 100 metres backstroke final, Berkoff used his pet technique at the initial lap until Suzuki increased his dolphin kicks from the 21 to 27-metre mark by a full body length to move faster towards his surprising gold with a new Asian record over the two frontrunners. His time of 55.05 fell short of the Olympic record from Polianski in the heats by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Suzuki landed on the penultimate spot and fifteenth overall in the 200 metres backstroke and closed out his Olympic career by swimming through the backstroke leg to place fifth as a member of the Japanese men's team in the 4x100 metres medley relay.
Suzuki currently serves as the chairman of the Japan Swimming Federation since 2021.
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Men's 100m backstroke | 11th |
| Men's 200m backstroke | 16th | |
| Men's 4x100m medley relay | 8th | |
| 1988 | Men's 100m backstroke | 
|
| Men's 200m backstroke | 15th | |
| Men's 4x100m medley relay | 5th |
1984[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 58.37 | |
| B Final | 58.30 | ||
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:06.24 | |
| B Final | 2:06.02 | ||
| 4x100 metres medley relay | Heats | 3:50.14 (58.31 split) |
NR |
| Final | DQ (57.70 split, NR) | ||
1988[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 55.90 | |
| A Final | 55.05 | AR | |
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:03.36 | |
| B Final | 2:04.67 | ||
| 4x100 metres medley relay | Heats | 3:46.88 (56.24 split) |
|
| Final | 3:44.36 (55.87 split) |
NR |