By Josh Jeffrey <\/p>\n
Six new national marks were set at the Japanese Nationals held in Tokyo, June 10-13. The Japanese women especially made huge breakthroughs and have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Sydney at the Pan Pacific Championships in August. <\/p>\n
Men’s highlights included Tomohiro Yamanoi’s national record in the 50m free (22.68), Keitaro Konnai’s 55.53 in the 100 back, and Akira Hayashi’s 1:02.19 in the 100 breast. In addition, team leader Takashi Yamamoto swam very swift times of 53.12 and 1:57.09 in the butterfly events, winning both races handily. <\/p>\n
On the women’s side, veteran Suzu Chiba, 24, became the first Japanese woman under 55 seconds in the 100 free, posting a 54.99, as well as winning the 200 free with a new national record, 1:58.78. Watch out Inge and Jenny! Additionally in the 100, Ayari Aoyama and Sumika Minamoto were both under 56 seconds (55.53 and 55.82, respectively), <\/p>\n
Aoyama won the 100 fly in 59.77, with second and third at 1:00.01 and 1:00.03. The 200 fly was led by 16-year-old Maki Mita at 2:09.68. <\/p>\n
Backstroke events in Japan were taken to new levels as Mai Nakamura finally had a perfect swim, posting a scorching 1:01.07 in the 100 for a new national record, while Mike Nakao won the 200 in 2:10.34, a time that would have won handily in Perth at last year’s World Championships, and another national record. The top three swimmers were 2:12.09 or better. <\/p>\n
Finally, Masami Tanaka proved her wins at the Short Course World Champs in Hong Kong were no fluke, notching a national record 1:08.86 in the 100 breaststroke, and winning the 200 in 2:27.69. The next two swimmers swam 2:28.4 or better. <\/p>\n
Josh Jeffrey is a frequent contributor to Swimming World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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