Japan Open: Several Close Calls for Japanese Records

TOKYO, Japan, June 5. THE 2009 edition of the Japan Open featured a few spirited attempts at Japanese records, but they all fell short during the first night of long course meter action.

The 100 backstrokes were definitely the spotlight events for the first night of action. Shiho Sakai took a serious run at Reiko Nakamura's national record in the women's race. Sakai clocked in with a 59.68, missing Nakamura's Japanese mark of 59.36 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Aya Terakawa (1:00.37) and Tomoyo Fukuda (1:01.36) took second and third.

Meanwhile, world-beater Ryosuke Irie won the men's title in 53.31. That time fell well short of his national record, and near-world record, of 52.56 set at the Duel in the Pool in Australia a month ago. Controversy still surrounds Irie's pending world record of 1:52.86 in the 200 back set at the Duel in the Pool in an unapproved suit. Time will tell whether FINA decides to ratify the mark set against the background of turbulent times.

Notably, Hunya Koga (53.86) and Takashi Nakano (54.86) completed the podium in the men's 100 back.

Natsumi Iwashita opened the first night of swimming with a winning time of 8:35.29 in the women's 800 free. Chika Yonenaga placed second in 8:36.64, while Yumi Kida touched third in 8:39.73. Yousuke Miyamoto followed in the men's 1500 free with a winning time of 15:15.51. Kenichi Doki took second in 15:24.78, while Kakeru Ikeda finished third in 15:30.72.

In the 100 fly, Yuuko Nakanishi topped the women's finale with a 58.72, while Yuka Katou placed second in 58.93. Yui Miyamoto wound up third in 59.28. Takeshi Matsuda captured the men's 200 fly title in 1:54.23 with Ryusuke Sakata (1:55.30) and Hiroto Seta (1:56.30) rounding out the top three.

Haruka Ueda cruised to victory in the women's 200 free with a 1:59.29, while Akane Hoshi took second in 2:01.32. Misaki Yamaguchi finished third in 2:01.53. Syo Uchida claimed the men's 200 free crown in 1:47.75 with Syogo Hihara taking second in 1:48.03. Yoshihiro Okumura wound up third in 1:48.91.

Satomi Suzuki made a run at the women's 100 breast national record with a 1:07.41 for the win. She fell short of Masami Tanaka's standard of 1:07.27 set back in 2000. Hitomi Nose finished second in 1:08.23, while Megumi Taneda took third in 1:09.06. In the men's 100 breast, Ryo Tateishi cleared 1:00 with a winning effort of 59.87. Takurou Ohsaki placed second in 1:00.50 with Yuuta Suenage earning third in 1:00.64.

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