Japanese superstar Ryosuke Irie broke the Australian All-Comers National Record on Thursday at the Western Australia Open State Championships with a 1:54.02. This means that this was the fastest swim ever done in Australia. It also ties as the 9th-best performance of all-time (and the 2nd-best swim ever in textile behind Lochte’s win from this summmer’s World Championships).
Irie is a notoriously-fast in-season swimmer (he swam six 1:54’s last season, whereas nobody else in the world swam more than 1), but this swim is unusually fast. Last season, he wasn’t this fast until April, so he’s ahead of schedule. If he can do just a little build through July, and taper back off for the Olympics, he seems to be the only swimmer who could legitimately challenge America’s World Champion Ryan Lochte in the event, though that still seems a long-shot.
Irie doesn’t have an Olympic medal yet, but has taken silver at the last two World Championships in this event. At only 21-years old (it’s easy to forget how young he is), he should be really hitting his stride when London rolls around.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t drop much more time. As an Australian we often get Japanese swimmers visiting for meets who are insanely fast at young age – 14 year olds going 2.05 200 back for example – but never seem to go much further. However, I am probably wrong and I wouldn’t be surprised if Irie challenges Lochte.
I think if there’s anyone who can beat Ryan Lochte in the 200back, its Irie. This is an olympic year and i’m sure he’l drop time in london. He is a serious contender for gold.
As I mentioned above, we’ve gotta remember how young Irie is. Most 21-year old males aren’t near their peaks, so I think he can get to a 1:52 at some point in his career. Maybe not this year, but it’s certainly in his future.
I’m still not convinced he will challenge for gold in any way. He hasn’t shown any tendency to drop much time with his taper; maybe because he’s so skinny. His turns haven’t improved either. He might have a better shot at the 100, but he will have to swim his fastest at the Olympics, and not the university championships.