The Japanese Swimming Federation announced a 25-person roster for the World Championships this summer that included eight athletes who were not previously named to the roster. Swimmers had two chances this spring to make the Japanese roster, and with the 2019 Japan Open coming to a close this weekend the Worlds qualifying period for Japanese swimmers has now closed.
The eight additional athletes were announced following the conclusion of the Japan Open, and include the swimmers:
- Tomomi Aoki
- Reona Aoki
- Namba Ryo
- Naito Ehara
- Yoshida Keisuke
- Takahashi Kotaro
- Sato Sato
- Ikemoto Risa
Notably, Olympic Champion Kosuke Hagino will not be on the Worlds roster for this summer after missing both qualifying meets citing a lack of motivation to compete.
Rikako Ikee will also be absent from this summer’s competition after starting treatment for her leukemia diagnosis earlier this year. The athlete will be a major missing piece from the Japanese team, and has been documenting her treatment and subsequent return to light exercise through her own website and on social media.
The 17 athletes who had already been named to the roster are listed below:
- Chihiro Igarashi
- Daiya Seto
- Hiroko Makino
- Ippei Watanabe
- Katsuhiro Matsumoto
- Katsumi Nakamura
- Kazuki Kohinata
- Keita Sunama
- Naoki Mizunuma
- Natsumi Sakai
- Rika Omoto
- Rio Shirai
- Ryosuke Irie
- Shinri Shioura
- Suzuka Hasegawa
- Yasuhiro Koseki
- Yui Ohashi