Daiya Seto Will Be in Paris; Veteran IM Standout Wins 200 Distance at Japanese Trials

Daiya Seto of Japan celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 200m Breaststroke Men Final during the FINA Swimming Short Course World Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia, December 16th, 2022. Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Daiya Seto Will Be in Paris; Veteran IM Standout Wins 200 Distance at Japanese Trials

One of the great individual medley performers of the past decade will be in Paris this summer for the Olympic Games, as Daiya Seto secured a bid in the 200-meter individual medley at the Japanese Trials on Saturday night.

After falling short of the Japanese Federation’s Olympic-qualifying time in the 400 medley earlier in the week, Seto easily dipped under the qualifying standard in the 200 IM. Behind a time of 1:56.87, Seto claimed victory in the event, finishing ahead of So Ogata, whose swim of 1:57.52 was just .01 off the required time for Paris qualification.

Seto owns eight career medals from the World Championships in the medley events, and he will now have the opportunity to chase a second podium spot at the Olympic Games. He was the bronze medalist in the 400 IM at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. There is also the possibility that Seto, since he qualified on merit in the 200 medley, will be given the chance to race the 400 medley in Paris.

The other highlights of the session came from semifinal competition, where athletes set themselves up for Sunday night’s finals. Already qualified for Paris in the 100 butterfly, Rikako Ikee was quickest in the women’s 50 freestyle, going 24.91. She’ll need to cut that time to 24.55 to add another event to her Olympic program.

The men’s 100 butterfly was led by Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who touched in 51.54 for his semifinal. He led four men under the 52-second barrier. Meanwhile, Olympic champ Yui Ohashi was quickest in the semifinals of the 200 medley, behind a time of 2:12.30. To get the chance to defend her crown, she’ll need to drop to 2:10.70 and finish in the top two.

Shinri Shioura was the winner of the men’s 50 freestyle, but his time of 22.17 was off the Olympic-qualifying standard established by the Japanese Federation.

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