Japan Open: Teenager Rino Hosoda Sets Japan Junior National Record

TOKYO, Japan, June 6. RINO Hosoda planted herself firmly on the map with a Japanese junior national record during the final day of long course meter action at the Japan Open.

Hosoda, a teenager, announced herself to the world as an ascending threat with a Japan junior national record of 58.45 in the women's 100 fly. That performance rocketed her to seventh in the world, just ahead of Natalie Coughlin's 58.46 from last month. Yuka Katou took second in 58.70 to tie for 18th in the world, while Tomoyo Fukuda placed third in 59.27.

Kouhei Kawamoto clocked a 52.37 to win the men's 100 fly. That effort pushed him into the top 10 in the world at eighth, ahead of Michael Phelps' 52.41 from Charlotte last month. Takurou Fujii finished second in 52.63, but has a much faster season best of 51.94 that ranked him third in the world. Takeshi Matsuda earned third in 52.77, also back from his fourth-ranked season-best time of 51.98.

Miho Takahashi won the women's 200 IM in 2:14.32, while Chihiro Igarashi touched just behind with a second-place 2:14.59. Both times are just outside the top 25 in the world this year. Youko Nakaoka wound up third in 2:15.73.

Ken Takakuwa, who is ranked third in the world with a 1:58.40 in the men's 200 IM from April, put another sub-2:00 time up on the board to win in 1:59.27. Yuuya Horihata finished second in 2:00.42, off his fourth-ranked season-best time of 1:59.35. Yuuta Takahashi grabbed third in 2:01.36.

Aya Terakawa just missed her season-best in the women's 50 back with a winning time of 28.09. She is ranked fourth in the world with a 28.05 from April. Miyuki Takemura finished second in 28.40, while Wakana Hirai claimed third in 28.63. Takemura moved to ninth in the world rankings with her time, while Hirai jumped to 18th.

Junya Koga won the men's 50 back in 25.26, but has already been sub-25 this year with the third-ranked time of 24.86 from April. Masafumi Yamaguchi took second in 25.62, while Hiroto Nishihara completed the top three in 25.98.

Rie Kaneto claimed the women's 200 breast in 2:24.63, just off her fifth-ranked season-best of 2:24.57 from April. Keiko Fukudome took second in 2:25.80 to move to 12th in the world rankings, while Satomi Suzuki finished third in 2:26.40. Suzuki already clocked a third-ranked 2:24.27 back in April.

Ryo Tateishi cruised in the men's 200 breast with a winning time of 2:10.90. The time was relatively pedestrian for Tateishi, as he already clocked the top-ranked time in the world with a 2:09.21 in April. Kazuki Ohtsuka finished second in 2:11.02, while Yuta Suenaga took third in 2:11.79. Ohtsuka moved to eighth in the world with his time, while Suenage already is ranked third in the world with a 2:09.57 from April.

Yayoi Matsumoto touched out Haruka Ueda, 25.73 to 25.77, in the women's 50 free. Hanae Ito picked up third-place honors in 25.92. Kenta Ito topped the men's 50 free in 22.75, beating Takuya Kobayashi (22.76) by the slimmest of margins for the title. Makoto Itou placed third in 22.85.

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