Ikee Downs Second National Record On Day Four Of Japanese Nationals

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Some of the biggest names in Japanese swimming are competing this week in the 2018 Japanese National Championships in Tokyo to qualify for the Pan Pacs team as well as the Asian Games, Jr. Pan Pacs and the Youth Olympics. Check out the events from the fourth night of the meet and recaps of the results (including yet another national record) below:

Day Four Events

Women’s 200 Butterfly (Semi-final)
Men’s 200 Backstroke (Semi-final)
Men’s 200 Breaststroke (Semi-final)
Women’s 200 IM (Final)
Men’s 200 IM (Final)
Women’s 50 Freestyle (Final)
Men’s 50 Freestyle (Final)
Women’s 400 Freestyle (Final)
Men’s 200 Butterfly (Final)

Women’s 200 Butterfly (Semi-final)

Suzuka Hasegawa followed up her #1 seed out of prelims by being the fastest qualifier for tomorrow night’s final in the women’s 200 fly. Hasegawa clocked a 2:08.94 to sit as the only woman under 2:09. Qualifying second from the first heat of semi-finals is Nao Kobayashi with a 2:09.65, with third qualifier Sachi Mochida joining them under 2:10 with a 2:09.93.

Men’s 200 Backstroke (Semi-final)

Olympian Ryosuke Irie led all qualifiers through the semi-finals of the men’s 200 back, qualifying first through semis with a 1:58.04. Irie already won the 100 back earlier in this meet. The next two qualifiers through, Hayate Matsubara (1:59.33) and Tadanobu Tokiwa (2:00.09) were both from Irie’s heat and will be on either side of him in tomorrow’s final.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke (Semi-final)

World record holder Ippei Watanabe led all qualifiers through semi-finals with a 2:09.84, just .01 ahead of Yukihiro Takahashi (2:09.85) who was swimming in heat two. Just behind them was Yasuhiro Koseki with a 2:09.96.

Women’s 200 IM (Final)

Top qualifier Yui Ohhashi won the 200 IM with a dominant swim of 2:08.92. She led the race the entire way and was the only swimmer in the field under 2:10. Second place Miho Teramura was less than a tenth behind after the breaststroke leg, but faded down the last 50 to finish 2nd in 2:10.21. Third place went to Rika Oomoto in 2:10.98.

Men’s 200 IM (Final)

Kosuke Hagino won his first title of the meet in the 200 IM, clocking 1:56.37 to hold off a charging Daiya Seto down the last length. That time is a little more than a second off of his national record. Hagino had more than second lead at the 100, but Seto worked his way back into the race in the second 100 but couldn’t get up to Hagino. The two were well ahead of the rest of the field, with Hiromasa Fujimori back in third in 1:58.25.

Women’s 50 Freestyle (Final)

Teenager Rikako Ikee clocked her second national record at this meet en route to winning the 50 free. She won the race by more than a second with a 24.21, dropping about a tenth of a second from her old national record of 24.33. In second was Mayuka Yamamoto (25.23), followed by Aya Satou (25.39).

Men’s 50 Freestyle (Final)

National record holder Katsumi Nakamura emerged as the champion in the men’s 50 free out of a very tight field. Nakamura won the event in 22.12, .02 slower than his semi-final swim and .03 ahead of Syunichi Nakao, who grabbed second from lane 6. Shinri Shioura, who was the top qualifier out of semis, finished third in 22.20.

Women’s 400 Freestyle (Final)

Yesterday’s 200 freestyle champion Chihiro Igarashi added another title in the women’s 400 free with her winning time of 4:08.89. She was the only swimmer in the field to finish under 4:10, with second place going to Waka Kobori in 4:10.09.

Men’s 200 Butterfly (Final)

Nao Horomura took control of the race at the 100 and never looked back, powering his way to a 1:53.79 to take the 200 fly title. That is less than a second off of Takeshi Matsuda’s national record and improves on the 19-year old’s personal best from the World University Games last summer. Daiya Seto finished in second with a 1:55.37, his second finals swim from the night and his second runner-up finish. In third was top qualifier Yuuya Yajima, who was unable to match his 1:55.05 from prelims.

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