The first night of action at the 2016 Japan Swim is underway. Hit refresh for the latest coverage.
Finals:
Kosuke Hagino unleashed a top-ranked time of 4:08.90 in the men’s 400-meter IM for the win. That swim cleared his previous top time of 4:09.06 from the Konami Open, but was short of his Asian record of 4:07.61 from the 2013 Japanese Championships.
Daiya Seto earned the likely second spot on the Olympics roster with a second-place time of 4:13.52. He already had a fourth-ranked season best of 4:12.98 from the Tokyo Championships to his credit. Takeharu Fujimori took third in 4:14.77, off his sixth-ranked season best of 4:13.81 from the Aquatic Super Series.
Naito Ehara clinched the men’s 400-meter free title in a time of 3:47.43. That swim moved Ehara up to fourth in the world rankings, behind only Henrik Christiansen (3:46.37), David McKeon (3:46.48) and Gabriele Detti (3:46.59). Yosuke Miyamoto also looked to have picked up an Olympic spot with a second-place time of 3:48.42. Tsubasa Amai placed third in 3:50.87.
Mihu Takahashi claimed the women’s 400-meter IM title with a time of 4:35.55. That moved Takahashi up to fifth in the world rankings, just behind Sakiko Shimizu’s fourth-ranked 4:35.04 from the Konami Open that stands as the Japanese national record. Shimizu, meanwhile, likely picked up the second Olympic berth in the event with a second-place 4:36.68. Yui Ohashi wound up third in 4:37.33.
Chihiro Igarashi missed the FINA A cut of 4:09.08 in the women’s 400-meter free with a winning time of 4:09.70. Tsudumi Hasagawa (4:14.22) and Asari Wada (4:14.25) rounded out the top three.
Semifinals:
Rikako Ikee turned in a Japanese record time of 57.55 to move to eighth in the world rankings. That time clipped her previous record of 57.56 set at the 2015 Tokyo stop of the FINA World Cup. Natsumi Hoshi qualified second in 58.84 with Suzuka Hasegawa posting a third-seeded 58.91.
Kosuke Kitajima demonstrated some uncommon staying power as the four-time Olympic gold medalist posted a 59.62 in semis of the men’s 100-meter breast to move to third in the world. Only Adam Peaty (59.55) and Cameron van der Burgh (59.61) have been faster. Yasuhiro Koseki (1:00.09) and Ryo Tateishi (1:00.67) qualified second and third.
- All Olympic qualifying reporting based on standard qualifying procedures. Final Olympic rosters are not official until each country makes one publicly available.
Kitajima is for sure one of the greatest breaststrokers ever if not the!! 2 golds in 100 breast, 2 golds in the 200 final in London and now 59.6…..get is incredibel!! Hope to see him in Rio. He still has to be among the top two in the final of this meet.
Liong Jee Yuen more kai wan xiao ???