By Hideki Mochizuki<\/p>\n
YOKOHAMA, Japan. April 20. DAY TWO of the 77th Japanese National Championships\/Fukuoka World Championship Trials brought disappointment among coaches and Japanese swimming media gathered in Yokohama, as results fell far below expectations. Some
\ncoaches and officials are fearful that a lack of preparation has led to the top Japanese swimmers being behind the swimmers from other strong swimming nations. <\/p>\n
Many Japanese swimmers who competed in Sydney took long breaks from the pool and skipped the heavy winter training. It appears that they have not been able to offset this lack of preparation since returning to training as late as December or January. <\/p>\n
Plus many coaches at poolside detect a lack of energy that they attribute, in part, to the absence of big names such as Yasuko Tajima, Miki Nakao, and Masami Tanaka. <\/p>\n
More importantly, some observers believe Japan may have blown its chances in the way it hand;ed the so-called "After Olympic Burn-Out Syndrome." Last December, the Japanese Swimming Federation gave special treatment to three individual medalists from the Sydney Games–Tajima, Nakao and Mai Nakamura–allowing them to represent Japan at the World Championships without swimming at these Trials. But two of the three (Tajima and Nakao) have chosen not to swim ib the World Championships, even though it takes place in their homeland. <\/p>\n
As a result, the federation has felt humiliated because the offer to the three swimmers was made only a few months after a notorious legal battle in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the federation refused to name Suzu Chiba to the Olympic team.<\/p>\n
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, Olympians Kosuke Kitajima and Mai Nakamura swam very well here today.
\nKitajima set a national record of 28.05 seconds in winning the men's 50m breaststroke. Nakamura won the women's 100m backstroke in 1:01.28–the world's fastest time this year.<\/p>\n
Other veterans swimming well included Sumika Minamoto,
\nwho breezed to victory in the women's 100m free in a solid 55.28 and Yuko Nakanishi, who won the 200m fly in a strong 2:10.11.<\/p>\n
The men's 200m fly saw a four-way battle in which only a second separated first from fourth. Hisayoshi Tanaka upset Asian record-holder Takashi Yamamoto, 1:59.11 to 1:59.14, with Susumu Tabuchi, better known as a medley swimmer, third in 1:59.81, followed by
\nKohei Kawamoto in 2:00.11.<\/p>\n
Still, the focus has been on the newcomers who are beating Olympic veterans. Among the promising new names are Sanae Nawata and Ryoko Maruyama, who went one-two in the women's 50m breast (32.05 and 32.30);
\nand Atsushi Nishikori, who won the men's 100m back in 55.96.<\/p>\n
DAY TWO RESULTS<\/p>\n
Men 1500m FR Final
\n1. Shunichi Fujita\t15:24.48
\n2. Masato Hirano\t15:27.70
\n3. Takeshi Matsuda\t15:29.26
\n4. Koji Azuma\t\t15:33.93
\n5. Eiji Katayama\t15:36.22
\n6. Yu Inoue\t\t15:40.12
\n7. Yota Arase\t\t15:42.47
\n8. Masahiro Murata\t15:46.83<\/p>\n
Women 100m FR Final
\n1. Sumika Minamoto\t55.28
\n2. Tomoko Nagai\t\t56.17
\n3. Eri Yamanoi\t\t56.41
\n4. Kaori Yamada\t\t57.61
\n5. Ayari Aoyama\t\t57.70
\n6. Natsumi Mizuochi\t58.02
\n7. Norie Urabe\t\t58.03
\n8. Akari Indo\t\t58.11<\/p>\n
Men 100m FR Final
\n1. Shunsuke Ito\t\t50.84
\n2. Yoshihiro Okumura\t50.90
\n3. Daisuke Hosokawa\t51.00
\n4. Naoki Nakura\t\t51.11
\n5. Tomohiro Yamanoi\t51.21
\n6. Tomohiro Okuno\t51.22
\n7. Issei Nakanishi\t51.29
\n8. Ken Yamamuro\t 51.57<\/p>\n
Women 50m Breast Final
\n1. Sanae Nawata\t\t32.05
\n2. Ryoko Maruyama\t32.30
\n3. Kaori Sato\t\t32.99
\n4. Junko Isoda\t\t33.02
\n5. Reina Miyazaki\t33.03
\n6. Kirie Suzuki\t\t33.15
\n7. Sayaka Nakamura\t33.27
\n8. Megumi Taneda\t33.38<\/p>\n
Men 50m Breast Final
\n1. Kosuke Kitajima\t28.05 Japanese Record
\n2. Akira Hayashi\t28.42
\n3. Ryosuke Imai\t\t28.44
\n4. Toshiki Saito\t29.01
\n5. Yoshihisa Yamaguchi\t29.27
\n6. Mitsuhiro Maru\t29.32
\n7. Hideaki Togo\t\t29.51
\n8. Masayuki Matsuda\t29.67<\/p>\n
Women 100m Back Final
\n1. Mai Nakamura\t 1:01.28
\n2. Hanae Ito\t\t1:01.74
\n3. Aya Terakawa\t\t1:02.10
\n4. Reiko Nakamura\t1:02.11
\n5. Chihiro Ikeda\t1:02.91
\n6. Arisa Murakawa\t1:03.42
\n7. Nozomi Nobe\t\t1:03.77
\n8. Seiko Kobayashi\t1:04.12<\/p>\n
Men 100m Back Final
\n1. Atsushi Nishikori\t55.96
\n2. Haruki Takeuchi\t56.19
\n3. Toshifumi Takeuchi\t56.24
\n4. Mizuki Wakabayashi\t56.50
\n5. Takafumi Oishi\t56.53
\n6. Kouichi Watanabe\t56.61
\n7. Junichi Miyashita\t56.98
\n8. Yosuke Ueda\t\t57.09<\/p>\n
Women 200m Butterfly Final
\n1. Yuko Nakanishi\t2:10.11
\n2. Asako Kitada\t\t2:11.44
\n3. Maki Mita\t\t2:11.79
\n4. Hitomi Kashima\t2:12.29
\n5. Saori Haruguchi\t2:12.32
\n6. Yukiko Osada\t\t2:12.42
\n7. Noriko Maekawa\t2:14.05
\n8. Yumi Hatta\t\t2:14.93<\/p>\n
Men 200m Butterfly Final
\n1. Hisayoshi Tanaka\t1:59.11
\n2. Takashi Yamamoto\t1:59.14
\n3. Susumu Tabuchi\t1:59.81
\n4. Kohei Kawamoto\t2:00.11
\n5. Shunsuke Koba\t2:00.95
\n6. Akio Kusano\t\t2:01.29
\n7. Hidemasa Sano\t2:02.61
\n8. Yusuke Ishiguro\t2:02.64<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Hideki Mochizuki YOKOHAMA, Japan. April 20. DAY TWO of the 77th Japanese National Championships\/Fukuoka World Championship Trials brought disappointment among coaches and Japanese swimming media gathered in Yokohama, as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[14042,3493,14030,14032,14045,14055,5439,210,6523,14053,865,5843,10246,14035,11469,13912,696,6279,14052,5863,14062,5934,13911,14041,14048,983,3494,14057,1087,4060,14063,4589,14039,3537,14031,14054,14046,14060,14033,14040,14061,6541,14058,14044,14036,13903,14029,14037,14034,4023,14051,6528,5844,142,45,5861,3501,202,13897,14059,474,3901,13913,14050,14047,14043,14056,5921,14049,14038],"class_list":["post-2448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-akio-kusano","tag-akira-hayashi","tag-arisa-murakawa","tag-asako-kitada","tag-atsushi-nishikori","tag-aya-terakawa","tag-court-of-arbitration","tag-court-of-arbitration-for-sport","tag-daisuke-hosokawa","tag-eiji-katayama","tag-energy","tag-eri-yamanoi","tag-hanae-ito","tag-haruki-takeuchi","tag-hideki-mochizuki","tag-hitomi-kashima","tag-japan","tag-japanese-swimming-federation","tag-junichi-miyashita","tag-junko-isoda","tag-kaori-sato","tag-kaori-yamada","tag-ken-yamamuro","tag-kohei-kawamoto","tag-koji-azuma","tag-mai-nakamura","tag-maki-mita","tag-masahiro-murata","tag-masami-tanaka","tag-masato-hirano","tag-matsuda","tag-medley-swimmer","tag-megumi-taneda","tag-miki-nakao","tag-mizuki-wakabayashi","tag-naoki-nakura","tag-natsumi-mizuochi","tag-norie-urabe","tag-noriko-maekawa","tag-nozomi-nobe","tag-olympians-kosuke-kitajima","tag-reiko-nakamura","tag-reina-miyazaki","tag-ryoko-maruyama","tag-sanae-nawata","tag-saori-haruguchi","tag-sayaka-nakamura","tag-seiko-kobayashi","tag-shunichi-fujita","tag-shunsuke-ito","tag-shunsuke-koba","tag-sumika-minamoto","tag-susumu-tabuchi","tag-swimming","tag-sydney","tag-takafumi-oishi","tag-takashi-yamamoto","tag-the-sydney-games","tag-tomoko-nagai","tag-toshiki-saito","tag-world-championship","tag-yasuko-tajima","tag-yokohama","tag-yoshihiro-okumura","tag-yoshihisa-yamaguchi","tag-yosuke-ueda","tag-yukiko-osada","tag-yuko-nakanishi","tag-yumi-hatta","tag-yusuke-ishiguro"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n