2023 Japan Swim Day 5 Finals: Rikako Ikee Clocks 25.59 50 Fly

2023 JAPAN SWIM

• Tuesday, April 4th – Sunday, April 9th
• Prelims at 9:30 am local (8:30 pm previous night EDT)/A-Finals at ~5:00 pm local (4:00 am EDT)
• Tokyo Aquatics Center
• LCM (50m)
• Qualification Meet For World Championships, World Junior Championships, World University Games, Asian Games
• JPN Selection Criteria
• Entries (in Japanese)
• Day 1 Finals Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap/Day 4 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream

We saw the penultimate night of action unfold in Tokyo at the 2023 Japan Swim, the competition which marks the sole qualification meet for this summer’s World Championships.

Katsuhiro Matsumoto got the party started by firing off a lifetime best in the men’s 100m butterfly. The 26-year-old grabbed gold in a super quick 50.96 to become just the 2nd man from Japan to ever delve under the 51-second barrier.

National record holder Naoki Mizunuma snagged the silver in 51.35 with both men clearing the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF)-mandated time standard of 51.67 needed for Fukuoka.

• Matsumoto Becomes Japan’s Second Man Under 51 in the 100 Butterfly

But the men’s 100m event wasn’t the only head-turning butterfly race of the evening.

22-year-old leukemia survivor Rikako Ikee set the pool on fire with a big-time swim in the women’s 50m fly. Ikee touched in a time of 25.59 to top the podium, earning World Championships qualification in the process.

Ikee comfortably beat out runner-up Ai Soma who hit 25.85 while Mizuki Hirai rounded out the top 3 in 26.48.

As for Ikee, her 25.59 here represents the 2nd fastest performance on her comeback trail since spending nearly the entire year of 2019 undergoing treatment. She posted a time of 25.56 at the 2021 Japan Olympic Trials.

With her Fukuoka-worthy result, Ikee now ranks 3rd in the world on the season.

This 50m fly represents Ikee’s 3rd title of these Championships, as she already scored gold in the 100m fly and 100m free events.

The third time was the charm in terms of World Championships qualification for Rio Shirai.

After just falling short in both the 100m back and 200m free races, 23-year-old Shirai made it happen in the women’s 200m back.

Shirai registered a time of 2:10.01, clearing the JASF time standard of 2:10.39. Splitting 1:02.49/1:07.52, Shirai was well off her personal best of 2:07.87 from 2019 but still got the job done tonight. She now ranks 13th in the world this season.

Additional Winners

• Waka Kobori topped the women’s 800m free podium in a time of 8:26.71, just outside her lifetime best of 8:26.67.
• Mainstays Shinri Shioura and Katsumi Nakamura dueled in the 50m free, with the former winding up at the wall first. Shioura clocked 21.99 while Nakamura was just behind in 22.03. Masahiro Kawane bagged bronze in 22.10, while all 3 fell outside the 21.96 time mandate.