Ryuga Yamada is making waves at the 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya. Born in 2012, Yamada is the youngest athlete in the competition at 14 years. He swims in the S6, SB5, and SM6 classifications. He is also the youngest in the Japanese delegation.
Japan had a tremendous campaign in the last edition in Hangzhou, where they finished third with 150 medals – 42 gold, 49 silver and 59 bronze. With the continental showpiece happening at home this time, Japan would be eager go better their position in the medal table in front of home crowd.
Yamada has been a star in his own country. He gained national and international recognition as one of Japan’s youngest competitive para-athletes. While Yamada is yet to achieve anything big, but his Asian Para Games participation will put him in good stead for the future.
His last event was at the Kobe City Swimming Championships 2026, where Yamada competed at the 50m freestyle event, finishing second to Hosaka Kohei. He had also participated in the 2025 Japan Para Championships at the Nippon Gaishi Arena in Nagoya.
During that event Yamada reached the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB5 and the Men’s 100m Freestyle final. Yamada has a lower-body paralysis resulting from malignant lymphoma (a form of cancer) at the age 2,
Following his treatment Yamada began swimming at the age of five, with the pool allowing him to move freely and stretch outside of his wheelchair. In fact, it is his lower-limb impairment , that allows him to competes in the S6 (freestyle/backstroke/butterfly), SB5 (breaststroke), and SM6 (individual medley) para-swimming classifications.
