Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto won the 200-meter individual medley at the national trials on Saturday, qualifying for his third Olympic Games.
On the second to last day of the competition held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, Seto touched the wall with a time of 1:56.87, well below his qualifying time of 1:57.51. Second place So Ogata missed the qualifying time by 0.01 seconds.
The top two athletes who meet the qualifying times for each event set by the Japan Water Federation will participate in this summer's Paris Olympics.
Seto, a bronze medalist in the 400 IM at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, said, “I want to beat my personal best and win a medal at the Olympics.''
“I didn't feel a lot of pressure (heading into the 200m final) because I've been doing this since I was little. I decided to stay calm until the end and do what I can.”
No athletes qualified for the day's other two finals, the men's 50m freestyle and the women's 200m backstroke.
On Sunday, Rikako Ikee will swim in the 50m freestyle final, aiming to qualify for her second competition in Paris. The 23-year-old star athlete, known for his return to competition from leukemia, qualified for the 100 butterfly on Monday.
Yui Ohashi, who missed out on qualifying for the Paris Games in the 400m on Tuesday, will compete in the women's 200m individual medley final. She won both individual medley events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
