Japan Long Course Open: Aya Terakawa Grabs Second National Record on Final Day

TOKYO, Japan, May 27. AYA Terakawa added another national record to her repertoire in the women's 50 back, and several other swimmers posted impressive times in the final day of competition at the Japan Long Course Open.

After finishing second in the longer individual medley distance yesterday, Izumi Kato got to the wall first in the 200 IM in 2:12.57. Emu Higuchi placed second in 2:13.80, while Miyu Otsuka, the winner of the 400 IM, finished third in 2:13.92. Kato's top time this year still stands at 2:11.79 from April, ranked 12th in the world. Meanwhile, Kosuke Hagino doubled up in the men's IM events with a 1:58.43 in the shorter distance, in front of Ken Takakuwa's 1:59.29 and Daiya Seto's 2:00.03. All three swimmers have been faster in 2012, with Hagino leading the way at 1:58.01, seventh in the world rankings.

Aya Terakawa grabbed her third win of the meet and second national record with a swift 27.71 in the women's 50 back, breaking the previous mark by just .02. Terakawa reset the 100 back record on Friday. Anastasia Zueva still holds the fastest time this year at 27.54. Miyuki Takemura finished second in 28.63, while Shiho Sakai placed third in 29.08. Yamato Ujibayashi won the men's 50 back in 25.43, while Masafumi Yamaguchi (25.61) and Yuusuke Kudou (25.69) were second and third, respectively.

Miki Uchida nearly broke the Japanese record in the women's 50 free, but settled for a 25.33, two-tenths off the standard of 25.14. Haruka Ueda (25.42) and Yayoi Matsumoto (25.45) also earned spots on the podium in the event. Shinri Shioura just missed the men's record as well with a 22.28, .17 off the record. Kenta Ito (22.47) and Makoto Itou (22.91) tallied second- and third-place finishes.

Yuka Kato set a national mark in the women's 100 fly earlier this year at 57.77, and finished just off that time this weekend with a 58.43. Natsumi Hoshi gave her a run but ended up second in 58.57. Nao Kobayashi garnered third in 59.08. Hirofumi Ikebata sailed to the men's 100 fly title with a 52.41, barely ahead of Takeshi Matsuda's 52.48. Takuro Fujii took third in 52.78. Fujii owns the fastest time in Japan this year with a 51.91 from last month.

After winning the 50 breast yesterday, Satomi Suzuki showcased her endurance by taking the 200 in 2:24.37, a little over a second off her top time this year of 2:22.99, which ranks second behind Rebecca Soni's 2:22.22. Rie Kaneto closed the gap and finished second in 2:25.09, while Kanako Watanabe took third in 2:25.27. The men's 200 breast race came down to the finish, and in the end Ryo Tateishi had just enough left to overtake Akihiro Yamaguchi, 2:09.07 to 2:09.22. Yamaguchi moved up to fourth in the world with that time, while Tateishi has already posted a 2:08.17 this year. Yasuhiro Koseki touched third in 2:11.86.

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