Rikako Ikee Breaks Two More Records On Final Day of Japanese Nationals

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2018 Japanese National Championships concluded today with athletes qualifying for the Pan Pacs team, Asian Games, Jr. Pan Pacs and the Youth Olympics.

Seventeen-year-old Rikako Ikee stole the show on the fifth and final day of competition. After setting new national marks in the 50 free and 100 fly earlier this week, she concluded the meet with two more records in the 100 free and 50 fly.

Full Results

Women’s 1500 Free

Yukimi Moriyama won the women’s mile with a time of 16:17.22, making this her second individual title of the weekend after winning the 800 free on day two.

Waka Kobori finished second in 16:20.82 and Aoi Nakamura took third in 16:23.71.

Men’s 800 Free

To match is 1500 free win from earlier this meet, Syogo Takeda also got to the wall first in the men’s 800 free. He finished two seconds ahead of the field with a time of 7:53.24.

Kouhei Yamamoto took second in 7:55.24 and Taketomo Tani finished third in 7:56.40.

Women’s 100 Free

Rikako Ikee dominated the women’s 100 free, winning the event by nearly 1.5 seconds. Her time of 53.03 knocked off the old Japanese national record of 53.46. This marked her third win of the meet.

Second went to Tomomi Aoki in 54.52 and third went to Chihiro Igarashi in 54.94.

Men’s 100 Free

Katsumi Nakamura matched his men’s 50 free title from earlier this meet with a win in the 100 free as well. He stopped the clock with a final time of 48.22.

Shinri Shioura (48.76) and Katsuhir Matsumoto (48.81) finished second and third, respectively.

Women’s 200 Back

Sixteen-year-old Natsumi Sakai got her hand to the wall first in the women’s 200 back in a time of 2:08.28, beating the field by nearly 1.5 seconds. She also won the 50 back and took second in the 100 back at this meet.

Sayaka Akase wound up second in 2:09.64 while Rio Shirai finished a close third in 2:09.84.

Men’s 100 Fly

Yuuki Kobori earned the gold in the men’s 100 fly as the only swimmer in the field under the 52-second mark, doing so in a time of 51.86.

Nao Horomura swam to silver in 52.04 and the bronze went to Naoki Mizunuma in 52.18.

Women’s 200 Breast

Women’s 100 breast winner Reona Aoki also crushed the field in the 200 breast, winning with a time of 2:21.85.

Kanako Watanabe finished second in 2:22.90 and third place went to Satomi Suzuki in 2:23.19.

Women’s 400 IM

After dominating the women’s 200 IM on day four, Yui Ohhashi did the same in the 400 IM. She finished nearly seven seconds ahead of the field with a time of 4:30.82. That time broke the old Japanese national record of 4:31.42.

Sakiko Shimizu took second in 4:37.37 and Miho Takahashi swam to third in 4:39.72.

Men’s 400 IM

Kosuke Hagino cruised to first in the men’s 400 IM, winning his second title of the meet in 4:10.69. He also won the 200 IM earlier this weekend.

Daiya Seto (4:14.01) touched the wall for second and Tomoya Takeuchi (4:14.49) got third.

Women’s 50 Fly

Not too long after a record-setting performance in the women’s 100 free, 17-year-old Ikee stole the show once again in the 50 fly. She concluded the meet with a new Japanese national record in a quick 25.43, clipping the old mark by .01.

Yukina Kirayama (26.22) finished second and Ai Souma (26.69) took third.

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