Veteran Japanese swimmer Rie Kaneto just surpassed her own Japanese National Record to become the first woman ever from her nation to clock a mark under 2:20.00 in the 200m breaststroke event.
While competing at the Japanese Olympic Trials in Tokyo tonight, Kaneto clocked a monster 2:19.65 to win gold and punch her ticket to Rio in the event. Kaneto is now comfortably out front of the world rankings as the only sub-2:20 swimmer on the planet right now, a nice place to be less than 130 days out from the Games’ Opening Ceremony.
2015-2016 LCM Women 200 BREAST
KANETO
2.19.65
| 2 | Yulia EFIMOVA | RUS | 2.21.41 | 03/04 |
| 3 | Taylor McKEOWN | AUS | 2.21.45 | 04/12 |
| 4 | Rikke PEDERSEN | DEN | 2.21.69 | 05/20 |
| 5 | Jinglin SHI | CHN | 2.22.28 | 08/11 |
Kaneto has been on a tear recently, as it was just this past January she rocked a brand new All Comers Record, as well as a shiny new Japanese National Record in the women’s 200m breaststroke while competing at the 2016 Aquatic Super Series in Perth.
At 27 years old, Kaneto threw down a personal best time of 2:20.04 to overtake the previous All Comers mark of 2:20.54, as well as her own National Record at the time of 2:20.72 – a time she set back in 2009.
A comparison of her 2 most recent National Records:
Previous – 1:08.55/1:11.49 = 2:20.04
Today, April 9th – 1:07.93/1:11.72 = 2:19.65
Kaneto remains as the 5th-fastest performer of all time in the event, but, at 27 years old, just improved up on her ranked time, slowly inching up on the historic list.
Women’s Top 5 Performers in 200 Breast:
Rikke Pedersen (DEN) – 2:19.11, 2013
Yulia Efimova (RUS) – 2:19.41, 2013
Rebecca Soni (USA) – 2:19.59, 2012
Viktoria Gunes (TUR) – 2:19.64, 2015
Rie Kaneto (JPN) – 2:19.65, 2016
mizuno suit?
Mizuno is awsome
I’m pretty sure I saw Jaked written in front of her swimsuit.
Fun fact: this is the first 2:19 womens 200 breast not done in a speedo or arena.
Her stroke (especially her timing to transition from glide to stroke without dead spots) is flawless. She’s really slow off the blocks though, and that first turn was way too long. I’ve never seen a 2:19 with so much to improve on. She’s got the stroke. If she can work on walls and starts between now and Rio, she’s going to destroy the world record and it’s hers to lose.
RACE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_6lDG1I88