2024 Japan Olympic Trials
The second of eight qualifying sessions for the 2024 Japan Olympic Trials has officially concluded. The men's 200m freestyle, men's 400m IM, women's 100m breaststroke, men's 100m backstroke, women's 200m freestyle and men's 50m butterfly heats all went on as scheduled, with the finals just hours away.
high school student Tatsuya Murasa The 16-year-old recently ran a best time of 1:47.49 and took first place in the men's 200 free heat. He touched the wall in his 1:47.76 seconds, several tens of minutes short of his personal best, but split the race almost evenly. He started his first 100 in 53.14, finished in 55.62, and posted an impressive score of 26.89 in his final 50 split.
Murasa's personal best is second only in U.S. history among 15- to 16-year-olds. maximus williamsonLast year's 1:47.29.
27 year old veteran Katsuhiro Matsumoto (1:48.49) was Murasa's closest rival this morning. Matsumoto holds the Japanese record for this event with a time of 1 minute 44.65 seconds, which he recorded at the 2021 Japan Championships. He won the silver medal in this event at the 2019 World Championships with a time of 1:45.22.
Murasa and Matsumoto will be in this class in tonight's semifinals, and if they both qualify later today, they will have to aim for a qualifying time of 1:45.84 in Tuesday's final.
Daiya Seto He was the fastest 400IMer in qualifying, hitting the wall in 4:13.03 and clearing by over a second. The 13-time world champion recently won a bronze medal at the World Championships in February, and will win the same colored medal at the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships.
Tomoru Honda, who won the 2024 200 butterfly world title, finished 10th this morning. It was a shock not to advance to the finals as he had set the best time of 4:09.98 in December. Honda battled a sprained ankle at the world championships in February, but withdrew from the event altogether after the gold medal-winning 200 fly.
Two athletes reached the 1:06 mark in the women's 100 chest. Satomi Suzuki (1:06.21) Beat the Asian record holder Leona Aoki (1:06.76). Suzuki has seen a resurgence in her career over the past year with seventh-place (50 breast) and eighth-place (100 breast) finishes at the 2023 World Championships. Suzuki also won two silver medals at the same chest distance at the Asian Games in September.
Suzuki was a two-time medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, winning bronze in the 100m breast (1:06.46) and then silver in the 200m (2:20.92). Her time this morning was significantly faster than when she won bronze at the Olympics over a decade ago, and she was just 0.01 seconds away from her best time in 2023.
Aoki's morning time of 1:06.76 wasn't far off her best time of 1:05.19, but it was a great morning swim with the semifinals (and possibly finals) still to come. She is on track to challenge the Japan Swimming Federation qualifying time of 1:06.47, which Suzuki shortened in qualifying.
Yusuke Sato He was the only man to run under 54 seconds in the men's 100 back heat, checking in with a score of 53.96. Sato won the bronze medal in Sunday's 50 back final and is aiming for his second podium finish.
Riku Matsuyama (54.21) and Ryosuke Irie (54.22), both are close behind heading into Monday's semi-final, but will need to drop significantly to reach their qualifying time of 53.21.Matsuyama recently set a best time of 53.84 points, surpassing Japan's all-time record for backstroke. Ryosuke Irie At the Kosuke Kitajima Cup the other day. Irie, 34, holds the Japanese records for both the 100 backstroke (52.21 seconds) and 200 backstroke (1 minute 52.54 seconds, set in 2009).
Even though no women broke 2:00 in this morning's 200 free race. Nagisa Ikemoto”His time of 2:00.02 was fast enough for the top seed. Rio Shirai (2:00.17) Miyu Namba (2:00.19) rounded out the top three in qualifying, and 1:56.55 was Tuesday night's qualifying target time. Namba won her individual glory on Sunday, winning the 400 free gold medal in 4:06.10, just above her qualifying standard of 4:05.34. Shirai recorded a time of 1 minute 56.82 seconds in 2019, the fastest of these three athletes.
In the men's 50m fly, eight athletes broke the 24-second mark. Kota Akabane He took first place with a time of 23.59 seconds.top seed Takeshi Kawamotowas as quick as 23.13, but chose to cancel the event. Kawamoto recorded a best time of 51.00 seconds in the 100-meter dash, which was 0.43 seconds below Japan's qualifying time.
