2014 Pan Pacific Championships

On day one of the Pan Pacs in Gold Coast, Hagino swam in the 200m freestyle. Hagino swam fastest in the heats, with 1:46.60, besting second place Conor Dwyer by five hundredths of a second. He later shaved almost half a second off his heats timing in the 'A' final, bringing it down to 1:46.08, a tenth of a second behind Thomas Fraser-Holmes.^[13] Hagino would earn a silver, his first medal of the meet.

On day two, Hagino swam in the 400m individual medley in his first event of the day. Hagino again swam fastest in the heats with 4:11.48, around three tenths of a second faster than second place and long-time rival, fellow Japanese Daiya Seto. Hagino would again swim fastest in the 'A' final with 4:08.31 for his first gold and second medal of the meet.^[14] Hagino later swam in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay as the lead, clocking 1:46.13, touching first for Japan in the first leg. Japan finished second to the U.S. with 7:05.30, settling for silver.^[15]

On day three, Hagino swam in the 400m freestyle. Hagino swam with a time of 3:48.92 in the heats, at fourth place. He then swam 3:44.56 in the 'A' final, finishing more than a second behind winner Park Tae-hwan.^[16] He earned his third silver and fourth medal of the meet. Hagino then swam in the 200m backstroke, where he qualified fifth with 1:56.94. He finished last in the 'A' final, where he surprisingly swam almost three seconds slower than his heats timing.^[17] It would be Hagino's only medal-less event.

On day four and Hagino's final event, he swam in the 200m individual medley that featured a competitive field including teammate Seto and American legends Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary. Hagino swam fastest in the heats with a 1:57.61, besting second place Seto by more than a half a second. He again swam fastest in the 'A' final, swimming 1:56.62, narrowly out-touching Phelps by two hundredths of a second.^[18] He earned his second gold of the meet.

Hagino earned medals in five of his six events. He won two gold and three silver medals.

2014 Asian Games

On the first day of the Asiad in Incheon, Hagino swam in the 200m freestyle that featured Asia's best with Asian Record holder Sun Yang and Games Record holder Park Tae-hwan. He clocked 1:48.99 for second place in the heats, nine hundredths of a second behind Sun. In the final, Hagino shaved off more than two seconds off his heats timing, swimming 1:45.23 for his first gold medal of the Games.^[19] Hagino then swam in the 100m backstroke, clocking the third fastest time in the heats with 54.86. In the final, he swam almost a second faster for a bronze, and his second medal of the games.^[20]

On Day Two, Hagino swam in the 200m individual medley, which he holds the Asian Record of 1:55.33. He surprisingly swam third in the heats, clocking 2:00.85. In the final, he missed his own Asian Record by one hundredth of a second, but set a new Games Record.^[21] It was his second gold of the Games. Hagino later swam in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, which Japan held the Asian Record of 7:02.26. He swam a split of 1:44.97, the fastest split of any swimmer in the relay. Japan would then fail to beat their record, however set a new Games Record of 7:06.74 for the gold medal.^[22]

On day three, Hagino swam in the 400m freestyle than again featured Asian Record holder Sun and Games Record holder Park. He qualified second with 3:52.24 in the heats, and brought his time down to 3:44.48, but again finished second to Sun.^[23] He earned his first silver of the Games.

On day four, Hagino swam in the 400m individual medley, which he holds the Asian Record of 4:07.61. He finished second to prime rival Seto in the heats, swimming 4:18.77, around two seconds slower. Hagino then swam close to his personal best with 4:07.75 in the final, failing to beat his Asian Record but setting a new Games Record. It was his fourth gold medal.^[24]

On day five and Hagino's final event, he swam in the 200m backstroke, and qualified fourth in the heats with 2:00.34. He managed to win bronze in the final, swimming 1:56.36.^[25]

Hagino swam seven-for-seven, earning four golds, a silver and three bronze medals. He was announced as the Most Valuable Player (MVP).^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]}

Hagino was also World Swimmer of the Year, and is the first and only Japanese to earn the award.^[32][33][34]