Streamlined News: April 4, 2012

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 4. THE Japanese and Chinese are swimming lights out at their respective nationals this week, putting up times that are in the top three in the world so far this year. Let's start in Japan, where Takeshi Matsuda surprised the world with a 1:45.96 in the 200 freestyle, a lifetime best by about two seconds. Matsuda is best known for his 200 butterfly, which won him a bronze at the 2008 Olympics and silver at the 2011 worlds. Matsuda's time in the 200 free is third in the world right now behind Yannick Agnel and Michael Phelps. Based on their seventh-place performance in the 800 free relay last summer in Shanghai, the Japanese already had a place in the event at the Olympics, but the Japanese federation required the top four in the 200 free today to swim faster than 7:13.57. The add-up times for the top four in that event came to 7:09.98, which is a second faster than Japan swam last summer.

Also swimming well, as expected, was Ryosuke Irie in the 100 backstroke. Irie's time of 52.91 puts him just shy of the fastest time in the world, a 52.75 from Camille Lacourt done last month. Irie already is the fastest in the world in the 200 back, and we'll see how he performs in that event later in the meet. Junya Koga, the 2009 world champion in the 100 back, placed second with a 54.14, which is under the FINA A cut but slower than the time set by the Japanese federation to qualify for the team. Once Japan announces its Olympic team, we'll know if they relax their guidelines and put Koga on the team.

Three swimmers went under the Olympic qualifying time set by Japan in the women's 100 breast, with Satomi Suzuki and Mina Matsushima getting on the Olympic roster. The third place finisher, Fumiko Kawanabe, missed making the team by three hundredths of a second.

Over in China, a couple of teenagers had breakout swims as they added their names to the country's Olympic roster. Xin Xin, just 15 years old, is now the second-fastest in the world in the women's 800 free with her time of 8:22.76. Shao Yiwen, just 16 years old, was second with an 8:29.49.

China is setting up a formidable 800 freestyle relay, with Wang Shijia and Tang Yi going 1:57.2 and 1:57.8 today to make the team for the individual event. Song Wenyan also got under 1:58 for third, and Zhu Qianwei was fourth with a 1:58.08. Add their times together, and you get 7:50.42, which is about two seconds slower than China swam at worlds last summer to get third.

The country hosting the 2014 short course world championships will be Qatar, after Italy backed out earlier this year due to financial troubles. The site of this meet is already built: the Aspire Sports Complex, where the 2011 Arab Games were held and was to be where the 2016 Olympic events would be staged, if Qatar had won their bid to host the Olympics then. The date for the 2014 short course world championships has not yet been announced.

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