Ikee Claims Two Championship Records at Day Two of the 2016 Asian Swimming Champs

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Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation

Day two of swimming at the 2016 Asian Swimming Championships saw championship records fall in eight of the nine individual events.

Rikako Ikee of Japan kickstarted the night with a sizzling 25.74 in the women’s 50-meter fly, flirting with her own Japanese national record of 25.50. Ikee’s 25.74 downed the previous championship record of 26.09. China delivered a 2-3 punch to complete the podium with top swims from Lu Ying (26.19) and Zhou Yin (26.53).

Japan continued to down championship records as Masayuki Kishida posted a 23.66 in finals of the men’s 50-meter fly, sliding beneath the previous record of 23.76. China’s Li Zhuhao also snuck beneath the record with a 23.74, good for second overall. Takeshi Kawamoto of Japan turned in a 23.97 for third.

It was a quick turn-around for Ikee as she made her way back to the podium with a gold medal finish in the women’s 50-meter free. Ikee touched a shy .01 seconds ahead of China’s Zhu Menghui to nab the gold medal and a new championship record of 24.90. Zhu settled for second with a time of 24.91, also finishing beneath the previous record of 24.94.

The men’s 100-meter breaststroke final was highlighted by four swimmers sneaking past the previous championship record of 1:01.26. Ippei Watanabe of Japan set the new championship record at a 59.99 to be the only athlete in the field beneath the one-minute mark. Teammate Yasuhiro Koseki picked up silver with a 1:00.02, while China’s Yan Zibei (1:00.14) and Li Xiang (1:00.73) took third and fourth.

Reona Aoki posted a 2:22.74 in finals of the women’s 200-meter breaststroke to blast past the previous championship record of 2:25.37. Shi Jinglin of China finished second overall with a 2:24.19, while Japan’s Misaki Sekiguchi was third with a 2:27.41.

South Korea’s Park Tae Hwan topped the men’s 400-meter free with a 3:44.68, followed by a tight race between Japan’s Tsubasa Amai and China’s Qiu Ziao. The two finished second and third respectively with times of 3:51.09 and 3:51.74.

China turned in a 1-2 finish in the women’s 200-meter free, led by Shen Duo and her new championship record of 1:56.71. Teammate Ai Yanhan also snuck beneath the previous record of 1:58.76 with a time of 1:57.35. Vietnam’s Thi Anh Vien Nguyen grabbed third with a final time of 1:59.31.

China’s momentum continued into the men’s 200-meter backstroke as teammates Xu Jiayu and Li Guangyuan claimed the gold and silver. Xu overturned the championship record of 1:56.38 with a time of 1:55.19, while Li posted a 1:57.47. Japan’s Keita Sunama picked up third with a 1:57.96.

Fu Yuanhui of China posted the only sub-minute time in the women’s 100-meter backstroke to set a new championship record of 59.70. Fu also currently holds the Chinese national record in the 100-meter backstroke with a 58.76 from the Rio Olympic Games. Teammate Wang Xueer finished second overall with a 1:00.03, followed by Japan’s Emi Moronuki’s 1:01.09.

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