KANAGAWA, Japan, September 6. KOSUKE Hagino made a big statement today at the Japanese Intercollegiate Championships that he’s ready for the Asian Games, breaking his Japanese and Asian records in the 200 individual medley.
Two weeks after posting a 1:56.02 to win the gold medal at the Pan Pacific championships, Hagino set the finals session on fire in Kanagawa with a 1:55.33. That beats his five-month-old national and continental record by just five hundredths of a second, but cements his place at the top of the world rankings as the only swimmer to swim under 1:56 this year – and he’s done it twice. Hagino is still knocking on the door of breaking into the list of top-10 performances in history, a list owned by Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. Hagino will need to swim a 154.84 or better to break into that exclusive club.
Hagino’s splits, April 2014:
25.03
53.72
1:27.54
1:55.38Hagino’s splits, September 2014:
24.89
53.61
1:27.41
1:55.33
Placing second in today’s historic race was Daiya Seto with a 1:57.08. Seto, who had been ranked fourth in the world with a 1:57.32 from the Canet meet in the Mare Nostrum circuit, improved his lifetime best with a 1:57.08. Lochte (1:56.02) and Phelps (1:56.04) still rank second and third in the world. Takeharu Fujimori was third with a 1:59.52.
Not to be outdone by a national record in the 200 IM, Hagino returned to lead off Toyo University’s 400 medley relay with a 52.78 backstroke split. That improves on his fourth-ranked 53.08 from Japanese nationals and nearly supplants Matt Grevers’ third-ranked 52.75. Ryosuke Irie still stands as the fastest Japanese man in the event this year with a 52.57 from Japanese nationals. Clearly, Hagino is having a banner meet this week, but will be looking for more when the Asian Games starts in about three weeks.
Kenta Hirai popped a meet-record 52.27 to win the 100 fly, moving from 44th in the global rankings to 28th. Hirofumi Ikebata led Hirai by two tenths after 50 meters but was clipped at the finish by one hundredth of a second with a 52.28 for second place. Takeshi Kawamoto finished third with a 52.43.
Photo Courtesy: Tobiuo Japan
Chihiro Igarashi won the women’s 200 free in 1:59.07, with runner-up Yasuko Miyamoto putting up the other sub-2:00 swim of the final with a 1:59.70. Miyamoto had led the race for 100 meters before Igarashi put in a strong final 100 to take the victory. Tomomi Aoki took third with a 2:00.03.
Yuki Kobori, ranked 25th in the world in the men’s 200 free with a 1:47.27, nearly eclipsed that with a 1:47.33 today for the title. As a point of interest, Kobori split 1:46.81 on the third leg of Japan’s silver medal 800 free relay at the Pan Pacific championships, so factoring in the relay exchange, Kobori is still on point but still well off the 1:45.89 that Kosuke Hagino has swum this year as the fastest Japanese man in the event. Placing second today was Reo Sakata with a 1:47.90.
Four ladies broke 1:00 in the 100 fly final, led by the 59.12 by Rino Hosoda. Nao Kobayashi took second in 59.66 while 200 fly winner Yai Watanabe was third with a 59.86. Kana Shimizu was fourth with a 59.95.
Shimizu Sakiko posted a 2:11.92 to win the women’s 200 IM for to post a season best time by almost a second. Miho Teramura placed second with a 2:12.66, with Miyu Otsuka settled for third with a 2:13.27.