2021 Japanese Olympic Trials Day 4 Live Recap

2021 JAPAN SWIM (OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Saturday, April 3rd – Saturday, April 10th
• Tokyo Olympic Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Japan’s Sole Olympic-Qualifying Opportunity
• JASF Olympic Selection Policy
• Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Prelims Only)

WOMEN’S 200 FREE – FINAL

JPN National Record – 1:54.85, Rikako Ikee 2018
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:56.82

GOLD – Chihiro Igarashi, 1:57.47
SILVER – Rio Shirai, 1:58.37
BRONZE – Aoi Masuda, 1:58.86

Chihiro Igarashi claimed the top prize in the first event of the evening, the women’s 200m freestyle. Igarashi clocked a time of 1:57.47 to earn the only result under 1:58, with her time falling just .37 outside of her lifetime best.

However, the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF)-mandated time standard to qualify in this event individually at the Olympic Games rests at a swift 1:56.82. As such, no Japanese woman qualified for a home-based Games in this event.

On the relay level, runner-up Rio Shirai, 3rd place finisher Aoi Masuda and 4th place swimmer Nagisa Ikemoto‘s times tonight all add up to 7:53.88, which misses the Olympic qualification time of 7:52.50 set forth by JASF. Following the selection policy strictly would mean that there would not be a women’s 800m free relay from Japan at a home-based Games.

MEN’S 200 FLY – FINAL

JPN National Record – 1:52.53, Daiya Seto 2020
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:56.25

GOLD – Tomoru Honda, 1:54.88 Olympic Qualifying
SILVER –  Daiya Seto, 1:55.20 Olympic Qualifying
BRONZE – Teppei Morimoto, 1:55.82*

As if yesterday’s men’s 200m fly semifinal wasn’t eye-popping enough, with 6 men clocking times of 1:56.3 or faster, tonight’s showdown was a thrilling battle right to the very end.

Dualing from start to finish in the quest to qualify for the Olympic Games, Tomoru Honda and Daiya Seto duked it out from the get-go, with Honda ultimately grabbing the gold.

Seto started off quickly with an opening 100m of 54.59 to Honda’s 54.89, but Honda gained momentum through the back half to surge ahead and nab his second time under the 1:55 barrier. Entering this meet, Honda’s personal best rested at the 1:55.31 he produced at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships. That garnered him the silver medal there in Budapest behind winner Luca Urlando of the United States, while last night his 1:54.93 was his first foray under 1:55.

For Seto, the national record holder in this event held on to earn an Olympic berth here, adding this 2fly to his already-solidified roster spots in the 200m and 400m IM.

A remarkable 4 men were under the 1:56 threshold in tonight’s final.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

JPN National Record – 2:07.91, Yui Ohashi 2017
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:10.49

GOLD – Miho Teramura, 2:09.55 Olympic Qualifying
SILVER – Yui Ohashi, 2:09.67 Olympic Qualifying
BRONZE – Rika Omoto 2:09.85*

26-year-old Miho Teramura put up the fastest 200m IM of her life to upset national record holder Yui Ohashi and qualify for the Olympic Games.

After claiming the 3rd seed in last night’s semifinal in a relaxed 2:12.42, Teramura turned it on to bust out a winning effort of 2:09.55, dropping .31 from her previous career-quickest in the process. With her effort tonight, she remains Japan’s 4th fastest performer all-time.

For Ohashi, the 400m IM winner here already said she wasn’t satisfied with her 4:35.14 time in that event and she most likely won’t be pleased with this outing either considering she’s Japan’s fastest woman ever in a PB of 2:07.91. She’s already been faster this season, owning a time of 2:09.59 from February. In fact, Ohashi narrowly sneaked into 2nd place, skimming by tonight’s bronze medalist Rika Omoto by only .18.

All 3 women got under the JASF-mandated QT of 2:10.49 needed for Tokyo, so Omoto is out right now unless Teramura or Ohashi pass on their roster spot, which is highly unlikely.

Teramura’s time checks her in as the #3 swimmer in the world this season.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREE – FINAL

JPN National Record – 15:58.55, Ai Shibata 2007
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 16:02.75

GOLD – Yukimi Moriyama, 16:17.60
SILVER – Chinatsu Sato, 16:20.02
BRONZE – Niko Aoki, 16:23.02

Unfortunately for the nation of Japan, the top two finishers of the women’s 1500m free were unable to snag an Olympic qualifying time tonight in the final.

Taking gold was Yukimi Moriyama, putting up a mark of 16:1760 while Chinatsu Sato was fewer than 3 seconds behind in 16:20.02. The JASF-mandated QT stands at 16:02.75 so the women have a way to go to get into the territory the federation considers likely to medal.

MEN’S 100 FREE – SEMI-FINAL

JPN National Record – 47.87, Katsumi Nakamura, 2018
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 48.33

Top 8:

1. Katsumi Nakamura, 48.64
2. Katsuhiro Matsumoto, 48.81
3. Akira Namba, 48.98
4. Kaiya Seki, 49.02
5. Kosuke Matsui, 49.04
6. Juran Mizohata, 49.10
7. Shinri Shioura, 49.19
8. Keisuke Ishizaki, 49.39

The men’s 200m freestyle winner here, Katsuhiro Matsumoto, fired off a time of 48.81 in this 100m free to trail national record holder Katsumi Nakamura by less than .2. The pair teamed up with 3rd seeded Akira Namba to create a trio of sub-49-second outings headed into tomorrow night’s final. They’ll need all the speed they can muster to beat the JASF-dictated QT of 48.33.

Nakamura’s season-best of 48.34 gives us a good sign that he’ll be able to make it under the threshold, but whether he’ll be at his 47.87 PB level remains to be seen.

Sneaking into the final as the 7th seeded swimmer is former national record holder in this event, Shinri Shioura. He stopped the clock tonight in 49.19.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY – SEMI-FINAL

JPN National Record – 2:04.69, Natsumi Hoshi 2012
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:08.43

Top 8:

1. Suzuka Hasegawa, 2:08.84
2. Kina Hayashi, 2:09.80
3. Hiroko Makino, 2:09.84
4. Yasuki Fujimoto, 2:09.88
5. Kotomi Yamagishi, 2:10.09
6. Chiho Mizuguchi, 2:10.20
7. Karin Uchida, 2:10.29
8. Miyu Nakano, 2:10.33

The women’s 200m fly may look like a tightly-packed field based on tonight’s semi-final, but the race is essentially Suzuka Hasegawa‘s to lose. She owns a season-best of 2:07.82 and ranks as the 2nd fastest performer ever from Japan with a lifetime best of 2:06.29. Hasegawa’s top-seeded 2:08.84 this evening stands less than half a second away from the JASF-mandated QT of 2:08.43.

However, there will still be a big race for 2nd place, with former national champion Hiroko Makino lurking as the 3rd seed behind Kina Hayashi.

A dark horse could emerge in the form of Yasuki Fujimoto, currently ranked 4th with a night swim of 2:09.88. Fujimoto is just 16 years of age and posted the fastest swim of her life. Entering this meet, her PB stood at the 2:10.28 logged at February’s National Championships.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – SEMI-FINAL

JPN National Record – 2:06.67, Ippei Watanabe 2017
JPN Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:08.28

Top 8:

1. Ryuya Mura, 2:08.08
2. Ippei Watanabe, 2:08.14
3. Shoma Sato, 2:09.18
4. Yamato Fukasawa, 2:09.47
5. Hayato Yamao, 2:09.71
6. Yu Hanaguruma, 2:09.85
7. Kaede Hirakawa, 2:09.94
8. Takaaki Okawa, 2:10.21

While all eyes are on the domestic rivals of Ippei Watanabe and Shoma Sato in this men’s 200m breast, it was Ryuya Mura who quietly put his hat in the ring for a possible Olympic berth in this event.

The 24-year-old just put up the fastest time of his career with his top-seeded 2:08.08 slicing .07 off of the 2:08.15 he put up just last December.

Watanabe and Sato held steady tonight in the 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. Watanabe’s 2:08.14 already dips under the JASF QT of 2:0828, while Sato seemed to experiment with a wicked-fast first half before shutting it down to clock 2:09.18. Sato’s opening 100m checked in a 1:00.88, the swiftest of the field by about half a second.

We noted how 2016 Olympic finalist Yasuhiro Koseki dropped out of this event’s prelims this morning You can read more about his questionable continuance here.