By Hideki Mochizuki, Takahisa Ide and Phil Whitten<\/p>\n
TOKYO, June 16. THE Japanese National Championships ended today just the way they began six days ago — with some impressively fast swimming and unprecedented depth.<\/p>\n
The six-day meet her at Tatsumi International Pool in Tokyo also has served as the selection meet for the teams Japan will take to the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama and the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.<\/p>\n
Only one national record was set this day, Atsushi Nishikori's 25.96 second swim in the men's 50 meter backstroke. Nishikori barely beat out Tomomi Morita, who finished a close second in 26.08. <\/p>\n
There were, however, a number of other noteworthy performances:<\/p>\n
Kosuke Kitajima<\/b> won the men's 100m breaststroke in 1:00.63- the world's fastest time this year and only 2-hundredths of a second sloer than his national record. He split 28.59 at the 50. The 19 year-old Kitajima, who won all three breaststroke events and swam an Asian record 2:10.68 in the 200m breaststroke, making him the third fastest man of all time, has a good shot at breaking the one-minute barrier in the 100 this summer. <\/p>\n
Only one man has ever gone under a minute: Russia's Roman Sloudnov, who has done it twice and own the world record at 59.94 seconds. Aside from Kitajima and Sloudnov, the USA's Ed Moses, WR-holder at 100 meters short course (57.47) and 50 meters long course (27.39) has a good shot at breaking a minute. Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor may also make a run at the barrier.<\/p>\n
Yuko Nakanishi<\/b> swam 200m fly in a strong 2:08.15 to upset Maki Mita (2:09.27).<\/p>\n
Takashi Yamamoto<\/b>'s 200m fly (1.56.54) was also a fine swim, as the Japanese national champion steels himself to meet Americans Michael Phelps, the WR-holder, and Tom Malchow, the 2000 Olympic champion.<\/p>\n
Tomoko Hagiwara<\/b> was the surprise winner of the 100m freestyle in 55.13, just 14-hundredths slower than Suzu Chiba's national record. In doing so, Hagiwara became the first swimmer to have won four different events (100 and 200 free, 200 back, 200 IM) in the 78 years of Japanese national championships.<\/p>\n
After the 100 today, she said: "I was very surprised that I could go this fast. I was not sure if I could break even 56 seconds." Asked the reason why she was swimming so many events, she replied: "Like the swimmers overseas, I want to be tough both
\nphysically and mentally. <\/p>\n
Hagiwara swam 12 races in 6 days including prelim and
\nsemis. <\/p>\n
Other outstanding swims were turned in today by Noriko Inada and Hanae Itoh, who clocked 29.10 and 9.11 in the women's 50m back; and by Shinya Taniguchi (4.17.67) and Takahiro Mori (4.18.940 in the men's 400 IM.<\/p>\n
Japanese National Championships
\n(Pan Pacific\/Asian Games Trials)<\/p>\n
Tokyo, Japan
\nJune 16, 2002<\/p>\n
Tatsumi International Pool
\nTokyo, Japan<\/p>\n
50 meter pool<\/p>\n
DAY SIX RESULTS<\/b><\/p>\n
Women's 100m breaststroke
\n1. Junko Isoda 1.09.96
\n2. Fumiko Kawanabe 1.10.03
\n3. Sayaka Nakamura 1.10.28
\n4. Yuko Sakaguchi 1.10.37
\n5. Nanaka Tamura 1.10.76
\n6. Ryoko Maruyama 1.11.12
\n7. Kahori Sato 1.11.97
\n8. Kazue Nakashima 1.12.30<\/p>\n
Men's 100m breaststroke
\n1. Kosuke Kitajima 1.00.63
\n2. Yoshihisa Yamaguchi1.02.06
\n3. Ryosuke Imai 1.02.34
\n4. Makoto Yamashita 1.02.37
\n5. Hiromasa Sakimoto 1.02.81
\n6. Yuki Funai 1.03.13
\n7. Toshiki Saito 1.03.35
\n8. Chikara Nakashita 1.03.45<\/p>\n
Women's 200m butterfly
\n1. Yuko Nakanishi 2.08.15
\n2. Maki Mita 2.09.27
\n3. Yurie Yano 2.10.10
\n4. Saori Haruguchi 2.11.87
\n5. Yukiko Osada 2.12.51
\n6. Noriko Maekawa 2.13.65
\n7. Yumi Hatta 2.14.22
\n8. Naya Higashijima 2.15.22<\/p>\n
Men's 200m butterfly
\n1. Takashi Yamamoto 1.56.54
\n2. Takeshi Matsuda 1.57.80
\n3. Yu Kondo 1.58.61
\n4. Kohei Kawamoto 1.59.07
\n5. Ryuichi Shibata 1.59.48
\n6. Kentaro Usuda 1.59.81
\n7. Makoto Mutoh 1.59.99
\n8. Shunsuke Koba 2.00.27<\/p>\n
Women's 50m backstroke
\n1. Noriko Inada 29.10
\n2. Hanae Itoh 29.11
\n3. Reiko Nakamura 29.55
\n4. Aya Terakawa 29.60
\n5. Ai Fukushima 29.61
\n6. Nozomi Nobe 29.64
\n7. Chihiro Ikeda 29.65
\n8. Yuko Tamura 30.21<\/p>\n
Men's 50m backstroke
\n1. Atsushi Nishikori 25.96 (Japanese record)
\n2. Tomomi Morita 26.08
\n3. Ryutaro Hayashi 26.32
\n4. Junichi Miyashita 26.54
\n5. Toshifumi Takeuchi 26.55
\n6. Takanori Mori 26.65
\n7. Kentaro Kitada 26.76
\n8. Tomoaki Giga 26.86<\/p>\n
Women's 400m IM
\n1. Ayane Sato 4.45.72
\n2. Maiko Fujino 4.45.89
\n3. Chiemi Yamamoto 4.47.15
\n4. Sawami Fujita 4.47.38
\n5. Aiko Marishita 4.52.20
\n6. Megumi Inoue 4.52.60
\n7. Yumi Kida 4.53.97
\n8. Ayumi Hirose 4.55.19<\/p>\n
Men's 400m IM
\n1. Shinya Taniguchi 4.17.67
\n2. Takahiro Mori 4.18.94
\n3. Jiro Miki 4.20.16
\n4. Susumu Tabuchi 4.23.20
\n5. Yasuaki Mori 4.24.77
\n6. Jun Yoshii 4.24.97
\n7. Hidemasa Sano 4.27.04
\n8. Masashi Minamiguchi4.27.74<\/p>\n
Women's 100m freestyle
\n1. Tomoko Hagiwara 55.13
\n2. Tomoko Nagai 55.81
\n3. Norie Urabe 56.50
\n4. Kaori Yamada 56.56
\n5. Mai Aoyagi 57.27
\n6. Yu Iwasaki 57.29
\n7. Natsumi Mizuochi 57.83
\n8. Atsumi Yamada 58.27<\/p>\n
Men's 100m freestyle
\n1. Hiroaki Akebe 50.53
\n2. Daisuke Hosokawa 50.94
\n3. Naoki Nakura 50.98
\n4. Tomohiro Okuno 51.01
\n5. Yoshihiro Okumura 51.03
\n6. Issei Nakanishi 51.18
\n7. Takamitsu Kojima 51.25
\n8. Shunsuke Itoh 51.46<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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