Japanese Short Course Championships: Quartet of National Records Fall

TOKYO, Japan, February 11. A flurry of fast times went on the scoreboard during day one of the Japanese Short Course Championships.

Syunsuke Kuzuhara clipped the national record in the men's 200 free with a 1:43.83. Shogo Hihara held the previous standard with a 1:43.86 from the 2009 Japan Open. Kuzuhara moved up to 11th in the world with the swim. Fumiya Hidaka placed second in the race with a 1:44.99.

Miho Takahashi took down the national mark in the women's 400 IM with a 4:27.65. That swim crushed the 4:29.77 set by Maiko Fujino also at the 2009 Japan Open. Takahashi improved to sixth in the world ranking with the victory.

Satomi Suzuki eclipsed the third national standard of the day with a 1:04.11 in the women's 100 breast. That performance bettered the 1:04.65 set by Nanaka Tamura at the 2009 Berlin World Cup stop, and jumped Suzuki to third in the world rankings behind Jessica Hardy (1:03.33) and Leisel Jones (1:04.02).

Ryo Tateishi took down the final national record of the day with a 57.20 in the men's 100 breast. That swim clipped a Kosuke Kitajima mark of 57.34 set at the Japanese Short Course Championships in 2011. Tateishi earned second in the world rankings behind only Alexander Dale Oen.

Hidemasa Sano won the men's 200 fly in 1:50.28 to vault to third in the world rankings behind only Takeshi Matsuda (1:49.50) and Chad Le Clos (1:50.15).

Takuro Fujii topped the men's 100 IM in 52.53, taking fourth overall in the rankings behind Michael Phelps (51.65), Kenneth To (51.93) and James Goddard (52.05).

Hanae Ito won the women's 200 free title in 1:54.22, bettering her previous season best of 1:54.58 which ranked her 12th. She leapfrogged Katie Hoff into eighth in the rankings with tonight's performance.

Kanako Watanabe snagged the women's 100 IM crown with a 1:00.09 to move to 15th in the world rankings.

Shiho Sakai claimed the women's 50 back in 27.13, while Junya Koga snagged the men's 50 back in 23.92 for 13th in the rankings.

Rino Hosoda turned in a 26.31 to win the women's 50 fly, while Hiroki Kato touched in 23.09 to claim the men's 50 fly to tie for 15th in the rankings.

Ayano Koguchi won the women's 800 free in 8:24.97, while Yohei Takiguchi picked up the men's 1500 free title in 14:39.22. Takiguchi jumped to eighth in the world rankings with the swim.

Tomoko Hagiwara just missed the national record of 24.84 in the women's 50 free with a victorious 24.90, while Kenta Ito turned in a 21.42 to win the men's 50 free and tie for 12th in the world rankings.

Kosuke Hagino cruised to victory in the men's 400 IM with a 4:03.49. That swim improved his ranking to eighth overall.

Sayaka Akase clinched the women's 200 back title in 2:03.27, improving to ninth in the rankings, while Kazuki Watanabe took home the men's 200 back crown in 1:52.37. Yai Watanabe posted a 2:07.27 to capture the women's 200 fly.

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