Kazakhstan history-maker Dmitriy Balandin has suffered a raging hangover since winning Olympic swimming gold in Rio -- but his closest rivals are taking nothing for granted at the Asian Games.
Balandin's form has nose-dived since he became his country's first Olympic swim champion two years ago, and the triple Asian Games breaststroke gold medallist arrives in Jakarta as a clear underdog to Japan's Yasuhiro Koseki and Ippei Watanabe.
However, the Japanese pair have backed the Kazakh to rediscover his mojo.
"Balandin took all three (breaststroke) gold medals last time," said Koseki, who won silver behind the Kazakh in 2014 over 50 and 100 metres and finished runner-up to Russian Anton Chupkov in the 200m at last year's world championships.
"I'll have to raise my game for sure," added Koseki, who scooped the Pan Pacific title in the 100m in Tokyo earlier this month.
"But I need to swim my own race and not worry about him. It will be important to win gold and take that momentum into the next couple of years until the Tokyo Olympics."
"But he will no doubt be quick and probably be tough to beat when it really matters. We need to be wary of him. But Ippei and me will try to make sure we get a one-two finish for Japan."