Naoki Mizunuma Flies Ahead of Field at Japanese Olympic Trials; Rikako Ikee Chasing 50 Free Title
The final days of the Japanese Olympic Trials have not tailed off when it comes to speed, and the championship heat of the men’s 100-meter butterfly on Friday night served as proof. Six men broke the 52-second barrier, with Naoki Mizunuma securing his ticket to this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Racing to a time of 51.03, Mizunuma finished ahead of Takeshi Kawamoto (51.25) to set up action at a home Games in a few months. Mizunuma trailed Kawamoto at the midway point of the race, 23.61 to 23.85, but Mizunuma had the endurance down the stretch to pull ahead and get to the wall first. Kawamoto, who equaled the Japanese record of 51.00 during the semifinals, got the second berth to the Olympics ahead of Katsuhiro Matsumoto (53.67).
In the final of the women’s 800 freestyle, Miyu Namba and Waka Kobori engaged in a stroke-for-stroke battle that ended with both athletes qualifying for the Tokyo Games. Namba narrowly claimed first place, behind a time of 8:26.61, while Kobori checked in at 8:26.67. While they extended their Olympic hopes, the women’s 200 backstroke will not have a representative from Japan, as event winner Anna Konishi (2:09.47) came up just shy of the 2:09.40 qualifying standard set by the Japanese Federation.
Rikako Ikee took the latest step in her comeback from Leukemia by earning the top seed for the final of the women’s 50 freestyle. Ikee, who has already qualified for the Olympics for multiple Japanese relays, touched the wall in 24.87. She was followed by Rika Omoto in 25.09. As for the men’s 50 freestyle, Kosuke Matsui (22.08) and Koshiro Sakai (22.09) led the way into the finals, which will also include national record-holder Shinri Shioura, who qualified fifth in 22.17.
