Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
INCHEON, Korea, September 12. ONE of the biggest competitions of the year gets underway in less than 10 days, as the 17th Asian Games begin Sept. 19 in Incheon, Korea. Although many of the top swimmers from Japan, China and other countries have already participated in some major meets like the Pan Pacific Championships last month, the Asian Games are definitely a major focus meet. Here are five male swimmers to keep an eye on at the meet, which starts two days after the opening ceremonies, on Sept. 21.
1. Kosuke Hagino, Japan
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino has positioned himself as one of the top all-around swimmers in the world in recent years, with top 10 times in six different events. Hagino could be a major threat in the 200 free (1:45.89), 400 free (3:43.90), 100 back (53.08), 200 back (1:54.23), 200 IM (1:55.38) and 400 IM (4:07.88), where he’s ranked in the top 10 internationally. He’ll be challenged by some of his own teammates in the backstroke and IM events, however, as Japan has a number of top IM swimmers.
2. Park Tae Hwan, South Korea
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
South Korea’s Park Tae Hwan, the 2008 Olympic champion in the 400 free, should be a huge star at the meet. Along with Sun Yang and Kosuke Hagino, he’ll be a major factor in the middle distance freestyle events. His top times of 2014 include a 48.42 in the 100 free, 1:45.25 in the 200 free and 3:43.15 in the 400 free, the last of which currently sits atop the world rankings. Park had a huge medal haul at the 2010 Asian Games, winning three gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 free and seven medals overall.
3. Sun Yang, China
Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch
Since becoming China’s first male Olympic swimming gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Sun Yang has established himself as one of the best distance and mid-distance freestylers in the world. He captured three gold medals at last summer’s FINA World Championships, and despite major issues with the law in China that left him banned from training and competition, he’s put up some stellar times this year. His 200 free time of 1:46.04 ranks eighth internationally, while his 400 free (3:45.12) and 1500 free (15:01.33) are seventh and 16th, respectively. The 400 free could be an epic showdown between Sun Yang, top-ranked Park Tae Hwan (3:43.15) and fourth-ranked Kosuke Hagino (3:43.90).
4. Ryosuke Irie, Japan
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
Japan’s Ryosuke Irie will be aiming for the backstroke sweep, and his chances of that are looking good. Irie has the third-best 50 back time among swimmers from Asia this year at 24.86, just off Xu Jiayu’s 24.58 and Junya Koga’s 24.66. In the 100 back, Irie sits second behind Xu at 52.57, while Irie has the fastest 200 backstroke time of 2014 at 1:53.91. Irie has been one of the top backstrokers in the world for several years and will look to add to his lengthy international resume in Incheon.
5. Daiya Seto, Japan
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
Daiya Seto should factor into the medal picture in a number of individual events as well. In the 200 fly, Seto has posted the second-best time of 2014 at 1:54.70, less than two tenths behind top-ranked Chad Le Clos of South Africa (1:54.56). Seto has a great shot at winning a medal in both IM events as well, with season-bests of 1:57.08 in the 200 IM and 4:10.21 in the 400 IM. Remarkably, Seto is actually ranked eighth among Japanese swimmers in the 400 IM, as seven swimmers posted sub-4:10 performances at the recent Inter College Swimming Championships in Kanagawa.