By Olivia Wile, Swimming World College Intern.
Today marked the halfway point of the 2019 Japanese Swimming Championships in Tokyo.
The spotlight was on Daiya Seto this session, winning both the final of the men’s 200m butterfly and later the semi-final of the 200m individual medley.
Hirai Ayatsugu, Natsumi Sakai, Rika Omoto were also notable winners in their respective events, all hitting Gwangju World A Cut times.
The sessions full lineup included the men’s 100m free semi-final, women’s 50m back final, men’s 200m fly final, women’s 200m fly semi-final, men’s 800m free final, women’s 100m free semi-final and men’s 200m IM semi-final.
Men 100m Freestyle Semi-Final
Kicking things off was the semi-final of the men’s 100m freestyle. Katsumi Nakamura got to the wall first with a time of 48.44. Finishing second with a time of 49.93 was Shinri Shioura.
Tying for third was Akira Nanba and Kaiya Seki. The men both touched at a 49.34.
A close fourth, fifth and sixth went to Mashiro Kawane, Kousuke Matsui and Katsuhiro Matsumoto. Kawane finished fourth (49.42), Matsui finished fifth (49.48) and Matsumoto finished sixth (49.51). Koutarou Takahashi finished seventh (49.73).
Women’s 50m Backstroke Final
Winning the final of the women’s 50m back was Natsumi Sakai. She touched off the national record with a time of 28.18, but hit an A cut.
A hundredth of a second separated Miyuki Takemura and Miki Takahashi. Takemura finished second (28.48) with Takahashi finishing third (28.49). Emi Moronuki placed fourth (28.51).
In fifth with a time of 28.82 was Marina Furubayashi. Anna Konishi finished sixth, just in the 28 range at 28.99.
Tamami Katagiri finished seventh (29.06) with Kana Syuno finishing eighth (29.15).
Men’s 200m Butterfly Final
Dropping a bit from yesterday and winning the final of the men’s 200m fly with a time of 1:54.44 was Daiya Seto.
Closest to him and finishing next with a time of 1:56.00 was Takumi Terada. Sao Horomura finished third (1:56.15).
Tying for fourth was Masato Sakai and Masayuki Umemoto. Both finished with a time of 1:56.65.
Finishing sixth with a time of 1:56.78 was Masafumi Ohsaka. Yuuya Yajima touched seventh (1:57.00) with Daiki Tanaka placing eighth (1:59.12).
Women’s 200m Butterfly Semi-Final
Suzuka Hasegawa cruised to an easy win in the semi-finals of the women’s 200m fly. She finished first with a time of 2:07.21.
Next to the wall was Yui Ohhashi finishing with a time of 2:09.36. Third went to Sachi Mochida closing in with a time of 2:09.39.
It was another close race for fourth and fifth. A hundredth of a second separated fourth-place finisher Sakiko Shimizu and fifth-place finisher Tsukimi Takeyama. Shimizu finished with a time of 2:10.81 with Takeyama at a 2:10.80.
Karin Takemura finished sixth (2:10.97), Airi Matsui took seventh (2:11.56) and Nagisa Izuhara placed eighth (2:11.76).
Men’s 800m Freestyle Final
Taking first in the men’s 800m free final today was Hirai Ayatsugu. He finished with a time of 7:55.85, off both the national record and Gwangju World A Cut time. Closing in second was Keisuke Yoshida finishing with a time of 7:56.62.
Next to the wall was Syogo Takeda, finishing with a time of 8:00.86. Kouhei Yamamoto took fourth (8:00.91). Fifth and sixth went to Genta Imoto and Ryuta Osaki. Imoto finished at a 8:01.88 with Osaki at a 8:02.72.
In seventh place with a time of 8:06.39 was Naito Ehara. Ikki Imoto finished eighth (8:07.60).
Women’s 100m Freestyle Semi-Final
Finishing first in the semi-final of the women’s 100m free was Oomoto Rika. She got to the wall at a 54.34, a Gwangju World A cut.
Aya Staou, Tomomi Aoki and Rio Shirai all finished in the 54 range finishing second (54.65), third (54.70) and fourth (54.94). Coming in fifth with a time of 55.10 was Chihiro Igarashi.
Taking a close sixth (55.15) was Nagisa Ikemoto. Sayuki Ouchi finished seventh (55.55) with Yui Yamane placing eighth (55.60).
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Semi-Final
Winning the final of the men’s 200m fly earlier, it was Daiya Seto who took the men’s 200m IM today as well. He finished first with a time of 1:58.44.
Both finishing sub two-minute were Juran Mizohata and Takeharu Fujimori. Mizohata finished second with a time of 1:59.79 with Fujimori taking third (1:59.98).
Both over the two-minute threshold were Yuuki Ikari placing fourth (2:00.13) and Tomoya Takeuchi finishing fifth (2:00.34).
Sixth (2:01.32) went to Masayuki Ohtake, Takumi Uchiyama finished seventh (2:01.87) and Hiroya Yamada placed eighth (2:01.95).
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