Dynamic Kosuke Hagino Decides On Olympic Trials Schedule

Multi-event Olympic medal threat Kosuke Hagino from Japan has confirmed his Olympic Trials schedule to his nation’s press today.

Proven to be a weapon of competition destruction across events ranging from the IM to 400m free and the 1500m free to the breaststroke races, the 21-year-old has zeroed in on 3, possibly 4 events to contest at the Japanese National Championships (Trials), slated for April 3rd through April 10th.

While in the midst of a training camp, Hagino’s coach Norimasa Hirai stated that the Olympic medalist will be targeting the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 free and 200 back for Trials. Hirai did insert a caveat regarding the 200 back however, that, if he were to scratch one race, that would be the one to get the ax.

None of the events identified are truly a surprise, as Hagino has proven his elite caliber of performance in each. At the Japan Swim (National Championships) last year alone, Hagino put the world on notice by scoring eye-popping times across the IM and 200 free events.

At those Championships, Hagino won the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 free in marks that still found themselves within the world’s top 10 even with Hagino having not swum at the World Championships. His 200m IM ended 2015 as the 3rd-fastest time, his 400m IM wound up as the 2nd-fastest of 2015, while his 200m free and 400m free ended the year positioned as the 5th in the world, respectively.

In fact, Hagino’s 200m IM and 400m IM clockings from April would have garnered the Japanese swimmer a silver in the finals of each of those events in Kazan.

Kosuke Hagino‘s Best Times of 2015

1:45.82 200 free
1:56.30 200 IM
4:08.54 400 IM

After having dropped out of Kazan due to the freak elbow incident just prior to the event’s kick-off, Hagino’s most recent return to the pool was in the form of the 2016 Kosuke Kitajima Cup, which took place on January 30th/31st. In his first race at the meet, Hagino cranked out an impressive 400 IM victory, clocking a time of 4:11.38, a mark which now sits atop this season’s world rankings.

Then the following day, Hagino blasted a time of 1:57.73 to take the 200 IM event, edging out teammate Daiya Seto. Hagino’s mark now sits as the 4th quickest in the world, with Seto touching in 1:57.95.

Assuming Hagino earns his nation’s berth in the aforementioned events, he may have to tackle two American swimming legends to land upon the podium in Rio. It’s looking more and more as though Ryan Lochte will indeed keep the 400m IM on his Olympic Trials schedule, as I believe he should, while both Lochte and 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps are favorites to claim roster spots in the 200m IM. Between just Lochte and Phelps, they own the world’s 10-fastest performances in history.

Hagino also has his own countrymen of Seto and Hiromasa Fujimori to worry about in the shorter IM. Both sit atop Hagino in the world rankings at the moment, with Seto having clocked a 1:57.72 at last September’s Intercollegiate Championships, while Fujimori rocked a 1:57.66 at the Perth Super Series against Japan and China just last weekend. Just mere fractions of a second apart from one another, yes, but at a time when everyone is gunning for Olympic roster spots, all it takes is one phenomenal trials swim to make a dream happen.

Looking at the free event, over the past 3 years, Hagino has consistently been his nation’s top 200 freestyler, as well as within the world’s top 10. In 2013, 2014 and 2015, Hagino ended each year with best times of 1:45.93, 1:45.23 and 1:45.82, respectively, with his highest ranking having been sitting in 2nd place at the end of 2014. The top Japanese swimmer in the event thus far is Yuki Kobri, who registered a 1:47.01 last fall.

As for the 200 back, a monster opportunity awaits Hagino to make a run for a medal in that event as well, as he’s historically been his nation’s top performer in the event. His top times include 1:55.12 from 2013 and 1:54.23 from 2014, although he backed off the event during 2015. Teammate Ryosuke Irie took advantage, putting up the 4th-best time in the world last year (1:54.62) while also earning 4th in Kazan (1:54.81).

But, it is indeed tough to pull out a magnificent double on any competitive stage, let alone Trials and then potentially an Olympics.  Tackling the 200m back and 200m IM on teh same night has proven taxing for even the best of swimmers, i.e., Lochte circa 2012, but then again Hagino is just 21-years of age.

Assuming Hagino makes the Japanese roster in all 4 events, his Rio schedule would look like the following:

Saturday, August 6th – 400m IM prelims/final
Sunday, August 7th – 200 free prelims/semi
Monday, August 8th – 200 free final
Wednesday, August 10th – 200 back & 200 IM prelims/200 back & 200 IM semi’s
Thursday, August 11th – 200 back and 200 IM finals

Of course the aforementioned schedule doesn’t include relay swims, of which Hagino would most definitely be a part. The 800m free relay is scheduled for Tuesday, August 9th, so at least that race wouldn’t interfere with the any of the individual events outlined above.

Hagino has participatd in Australia’s New South  State Open Championships in the past, so we may get another glimpse of the Japanese talent in March, with the meet spanning 3 days at Sydney Olympic Park.