Yoshinobu Oyakawa (Japanese: 親川 義信,[1] born August 9, 1933) is an American former competition swimmer, 1952 Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in the 100-meter backstroke.

He won his first Hawaiian 100-meter AAU backstroke championship swimming for the Hilo Club in 1950, and repeated in 1951.

[6] His 1951 100-meter backstroke time of 1:07.5 in the Hawaiian AAU meet was America's best that year in a long course pool.

[4] Beginning in the Fall of 1951, Oyakawa attended Ohio State University under a swimming scholarship, under Head Coach Mike Peppe, along with 1952 Olympic medalist, and former Honolulu's McKinley High School swimmer Ford Konno.

[8] Travelling with the U.S. team later in July, he represented the United States at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, where as a strong favorite he won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke event, breaking the fifteen-year standing record of American Adolph Kiefer, which had been set in 1936.