Japanese Long Course Nationals: Record Onslaught on Day Three

By Hideki Mochizuki, Swimming World Japanese Correspondent

HAMAMATSU, Japan, April 18. The third day of the Japanese Long Course National Championships featured several records not only throughout the evening, but also during the preliminary session at the meet in Hamamatsu.

Junya Koga, who smashed the men's 100 back record with a 52.87 on the second day, again smashed another record – this time the Asian standard in the men's 50 back. During prelims, Koga smoked a 24.59 to crush the national record of 25.26 set by Junichi Miyashita in June 2008, and the Asian standard of 25.18 set by China's Ouyang Kunpeng back in 2005.

Aya Terakawa nearly checked in with a world record in the women's 50 back prelims with a time of 27.94. While not as fast as the shared global standard of 27.67 posted by both Sophie Edington and Zhao Jing, it was enough to beat the national record of 27.95 set by Shiho Sakai in July 2008.

Nanaka Tamura got into the record breaking during prelims as well with a 31.55 in the women's 50 breast. The swim beat the national record of 31.75 set by Masami Tanaka in 2000.

Additionally in prelims, Yuki Honda took a run at the men's 50 breast world record of 27.18 held by Oleg Lisogor. Honda, however, wound up with the Asian record with a time of 27.50. His time cleared Kosuke Kitajima's record of 27.65 set in June 2008 at the Japan Open.

In finals, the record breaking continued. Terakawa moved even closer to the world record of 27.67 in the women's 50 back with a top time of 27.78.

"It is the first time for me to win the 50 and the 100 back in the same Japan Nationals," Terakawa said after the race. "I am very happy about it. Pity was that I was going for another .02 seconds faster, though."

On the men's side, Koga delivered another record with a swift time of 24.45 to win the men's 50 back title. That effort beat his Asian-record preliminary swim of 24.59 by .14 seconds. The 24.45 would have ranked Koga behind only Randall Bal's 24.33 in 2008.

"It was good to have improved upon my morning time," Koga said. "But, I could not reach the world record, so that's a pity. I would like to see results of other nations' selection meets for Rome to see if I could really compete internationally."

In the men's 200 IM, Ken Takakuwa also provided a world-class performance by lowering his Asian record to 1:57.24 with the fourth-fastest time in history. With splits of 25.40, 55.96, 1:29.43, 1:57.24, Takakuwa knocked nearly a second from his Asian record of 1:58.22 set at the Beijing Olympics.

"I was shooting for that record, so I am just happy," Takakuwa said. "I had felt a bit tired after the 400 IM, but knew I could get through it somehow. The Beijing Games were a really good experience to motivate me."

Tamura and Hitomi Nose touched in 31.41 in the women's 50 breast to share the title and the Japanese record. Both swims beat Tamura's preliminary national record of 31.55.

"I was so focused on my stroke," Nose said. "I really focused on this event after I ended up taking third in the 200."

Ryo Tateishi returned fire during the men's 50 breast as he took Honda's newly-minted Asian record in the event with a 27.47. That swim beat Honda's six-hour old standard of 27.50. Honda wound up taking second in 27.71.

"I lost in the 200 breast, so I really wanted this win," Tateishi said. "I was focusing on sprint in practice, so this result is encouraging."

Tateishi broke Kitajima's short course national records in both the 100 (57.55) and 200 (2:03.08) breaststroke events in February's short course national meet.

In the men's 400 free, Takeshi Matsuda tied his national record of 3:44.99 that he set at the Beijing Olympics.

"In the race, I was feeling really well," Matsuda said. "In Beijing, the race pace was managed by the other competitors. Today, I swam the race I wanted. That was the fruit of the day for me."

Asami Kitagawa won the women's 200 IM with a time of 2:12.24, but could not improve upon her national record of 2:11.44 set at the 2008 National Collegiate Championships. Kitagawa took sixth in the event at the Beijing Olympics.

"I was going for a personal best, so I cannot be satisfied," Kitagawa said. "I will shoot to break the 2:10 barrier soon when I am competing with other international rivals."

With Athens Olympic champion Ai Shibata retiring after Beijing, the women's 800 free door was wide open. Maiko Fujino capitalized on the opportunity with an 8:33.57 for the win. Meanwhile, Haruka Ueda won the women's 100 free in 55.18.

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