Reigning Olympic Champ Yui Ohashi Finishes Fourth in 400 IM at Japanese Trials

Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis/ISL

Reigning Olympic Champ Yui Ohashi Finishes Fourth in 400 IM at Japanese Trials

There will be a new Olympic champion in the 400 individual medley in Paris, after reigning champ Yui Ohashi missed out on qualification Tuesday.

Ohashi finished fourth at Japanese Trials in Tokyo, where she had done the IM double three summers ago at her home Olympics. Ohashi went 4:38.89 Tuesday at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre, short of the Olympic A cut.

It was a big session for notable names in the program. Ryosuke Irie fell short of qualification in the 100 back, which isn’t his premier event, while Satomi Suzuki, a triple medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, will be back in Paris at age 33.

Mio Narita won the women’s 400 IM in 4:35.40, establishing a new Japanese high school record. Ageha Tanigawa, who was 12th in Paris, secured the second spot in Paris, as the runner-up in 4:35.60. Both times are Olympic A cuts. Tokyo Olympian Waka Kobori was third from an outside lane in 4:36.55, which is also under the A standard.

Ohashi, who supplied some of the best moments of the Tokyo Games for the home country, has another chance to get to Paris with Saturday’s 200 IM. The 28-year-old has been tailoring her training more to the shorter even. Ohashi was fifth in the 400 IM at the 2022 World Championships. She didn’t swim it at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, with Narita eighth and Tanigawa ninth.

On Tuesday, Ohashi led the field at 200 meters. But by the end of the breaststroke leg, both Narita and Tanigawa had overtaken her.

She’s not the only one to miss out, Irie falling short of qualification in the 100 back, though the 33-year-old can still make his fifth Games in the 200 back.

Irie was the runner-up in the 100 back in 54.10, short of an Olympic A cut. Riku Matsuyama won in 53.72, which is under the Olympic A cut.

Katsuhiro Matsumoto booked his second trip to the Olympics by winning the men’s 200 freestyle in 1:45.29. That is an Olympic A cut. The runner-up, Konosuke Yanagimoto, is outside the B standard with a time of 1:46.84 for second.

Japan has qualified an 800 free relay. Tatsuya Murasa was third in 1:47.57, with Hidenari Mano fourth in 1:47.86. Fifth was Fuyu Yoshida in 1:48.00. Mano, Mastumoto and Yoshida were part of the 800 free relay at Worlds in 2023 that got Japan to the Olympics.

It’s a better result than the women’s 200 free, where no one hit the Olympic A standard of 1:57.26 despite Japan fielding an 800 free relay in Paris. Waka Kobori won the race in 1:58.22, rallying from fifth at 150 meters to the win. Rio Shirai was second in 1:58.27, followed by Hikoko Makino in 1:58.42. The top six were all under 1:59, with Nagisa Ikemoto, Miyu Namba and Momoka Yoshii following.

Shirai, Ikemoto, Chihiro Igarashi (who didn’t swim the 200 free at Trials) and Kinuko Mochizuki (who finished seventh) comprised the quartet that qualified Japan for Paris at the 2023 World Championships in ninth.

Suzuki and Reona Aoki pushed each other to Paris in a sensational races in the women’s 100 breaststroke. Suzuki won in 1:05.91, .02 up on Aoki.

Aoki finished 19th in the 100 breast in Tokyo. Suzuki, at age 33, is back at the Games after not qualifying for Tokyo. She won silver in the 200 breast and bronze in the 100 breast in London in 2012.

Kanako Watanabe, who swam both breaststroke events in Tokyo, finished a distant third in 1:07.15.

The final event of the day was the women’s 50 fly, won by Mizuki Hira in 26.05. She edged Ai Soma by .11 seconds.

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