{"id":415706,"date":"2020-02-17T05:06:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T12:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=415706"},"modified":"2020-02-17T05:27:21","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T12:27:21","slug":"daiya-seto-goes-146-200-free-59-100-breast-at-konami-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/daiya-seto-goes-146-200-free-59-100-breast-at-konami-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Daiya Seto Goes 1:46 200 Free & 59 100 Breast At Konami Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2020 Konami Open at the Tatsumi International Swimming Centre in Tokyo<\/strong> was a relatively calm affair in terms of the depth of quality often seen at Japanese meets.<\/p>\n

That noted, the men’s 200m backstroke drew the eye, while\u00a0Yui O<\/strong>hashi<\/b>\u00a0(4:34 400IM) and Daiya Seto<\/strong>\u00a0(1:46 200 free and 59 100 breast) continued to show the kind of in-training form that confirms them as big podium contenders for the home Olympic Games in the same city come July.<\/p>\n

The 92nd moment Ryosuke Irie<\/strong> raced inside 1:57 over 200m back, on 1:56.27, was noticeable for the magnet he has become to the following wave: the two younger athletes nearest to him both laid down big personal bests. Ryoya Naitou<\/strong> had yet to crack 1:59 going into the final but emerged sporting a new career high of 1:57.97.<\/p>\n

Third place went to 15-year-old Shuichi Takehara<\/strong> in an age record of 2:00.14. Around the same age, 15 turning 16, Irie improved from a 2:01.26 to a 1:58.85, a time that is now the 119th best of a career topped over 200m by his Asian record of 1:52.51. Inspiration for young Takehara.<\/p>\n

Seto’s Sizzling Approach To Tokyo 2020<\/h3>\n

Seto practiced the parts of the medley sum he intends to convert to gold come the big one by wiping a second off his 200m free personal best: his new high of 1:46.65 places him 8th fastest all-time among Japanese. Naito Ehara<\/strong>, was closest, on 1:47.76. On day 2, Ehara won the 400m free in 3:49.50.<\/p>\n

Seto also put the cat among the breaststroke pigeons with a 59.93 over 100m breaststroke, a time that will doubtless send shudders down the spines of his 400IM rivals around the world. Shoma Sato<\/strong>, who last month leapt into the club of 2:07 swimmers over 200m<\/a>, finished second to seto over two lasp, on 1:00.32.<\/p>\n

Seto’s latest efforts add to sensational swims over 400m medley – long<\/a> and short-course<\/a> – and the 200m butterfly<\/a> of late.<\/p>\n

Ohashi Builds Pressure On The 4:30 Dam She Aims To Burst<\/h3>\n
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Yui Ohashi – Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant<\/p><\/div>\n

Ohashi’s season best of 4:34.85 in the 400m medley (2019 season best 4:32.33 from World titles compared to a career high of 4:30.82 in 2018) cracked the Konami meet mark of 4:34.99. It also marked Ohashi’s 12th sub-4:35 of this Olympic cycle, 2019 having been dedicated to working not for that season but this: Japanese Olympic trials in April will show just how much pressure she has placed on the 4:30 dam she intends to burst.<\/p>\n

With her latest effort, Ohashi tops the early 2020 World rankings with a time that scraped inside the 4:34.94 she clocked at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup<\/strong> last month. At the weekend, she also topped the 200m butterfly, on 2:08.27.<\/p>\n

In Other Action<\/h3>\n

The 200IM did not feature Seto, leaving Ippei Miyamoto<\/strong> to take the race in 1:59.11 ahead of Seto’s great domestic rival Kosuke Hagino<\/strong>, working his way back to form after a time of injury and rehab, on 1:59.23.<\/p>\n

Reona Aoki<\/strong> was in fine form, taking the 50m and 100m breaststroke finals in a meet record 30.80 and a dominant 1:06.68 respectively. In the dash, Yuki Takasaki was close, on 30.94.<\/p>\n

The Japanese winter meets are now done, the storm of the Japan Swim<\/strong>, the national championships and Olympic trials the horizon all are aiming for in search of a berth on a home-games squad back at the same pool between April 2-8.<\/p>\n

Among other winners at the Konami Cup:<\/h3>\n

Women:<\/strong><\/p>\n