Kazushi Imafuku Sets Japanese Record in 800 Freestyle; Veteran Satomi Suzuki Still Shining at 35
The 2026 Japan Swim reached its midway point on Friday and Kazushi Imafuku continued to excel, this time by delivering a national record. Following an opening day victory in the 400-meter freestyle, Imafuku claimed top honors in the 800 freestyle with a time of 7:47.81. That effort bettered his previous Japanese record of 7:48.33, which was established last summer. Imafuku still has the 1500 freestyle ahead, an event that is considered his best discipline.
Imafuku wasted no time taking control of the race, as he was in the lead by the 100-meter turn and never looked back. He split 1:55.10 at the 200 and came through the midway point of the race in 3:53.94. Imafuku powered through the back half of his record swim, going 3:53.87 for a slight negative split. He was followed in second place by Takaki Riku, who turned in a swim of 7:56.75.
While the teenage Imafuku flashed his promise, veteran Satomi Suzuki continued to turn back the clock. The 35-year-old Olympic medalist from the 2012 Games in London defeated her competition in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:05.60. Suzuki has recorded several sub-1:06 performances over the past year, age obviously not slowing her down. In this latest triumph, Suzuki finished in front of Kato Kotomi (1:06.25).
Fresh off a world junior record in the 100 breaststroke, Shin Ohashi added the 50 breaststroke title to his collection when he stopped the clock in 26.98. That was the sole performance under the 27-second barrier and handed Ohashi a win over Watanabe Hayato and Yanagisawa Toshinari, who each went 27.24. Ohashi has his best event to come, the 200 breaststroke.
The men’s 200 freestyle provided a battle between Tatsuya Murasa and Katsuhiro Matsumoto, Murasa emerging on top behind an outing of 1:45.15. The bronze medalist in the 200 free at last year’s World Championships in Singapore, Murasa built an early edge on Matsuomoto and stayed in front through the finish. Matsumoto also dipped under 1:46, posting a time of 1:45.91 for second place.
Japan’s depth in the men’s 200 butterfly was on display as four men clocked performances faster than 1:55. The winner was Tomoyuki Matsushita, who is best known for his skill in the individual medley events. Matsushita prepped for the IMs by winning the 200 fly in 1:54.28, a half-second faster than the 1:54.78 by runner-up Tomoru Honda. Also going sub-155 were Kamikawabata Ei (1:54.86) and Fukuda Keigo (1:54.98).
In other action, victories were earned by Mizuguchi Chiho in the women’s 200 butterfly (2:07.61), Takezawa Ruka in the women’s 200 freestyle (1:58.33), Sasaki Miri in the women’s 50 backstroke (28.09) and Kajimoto Ichika in the women’s 1500 freestyle, where she set a Japanese university record of 15:58.59.