2017 LAUSANNE CUP
- Lausanne, Switzerland
- December 20-21, 2017
- Meet central
- Live results
Yui Ohashi, the 200 IM silver medalist at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, made mince meat of the Japanese record in the short course meters 400 IM. Swimming at the Lausanne Cup in Switzerland, she easily won the event, posting a time of 4:24.03.
Ohashi took down Sakiko Shimizu‘s record of 4:27.51 with Shimizu swimming right besides her. Shimizu would finish 2nd in the race in Lausanne, going a respectable 4:28.22, a time that would’ve challenged her old record, but looked pedestrian next to the new record-holder Ohashi.
The 22-year-old Ohashi, known for her immaculate stroke, split the race accordingly:
- Fly – 1:00.4o (28.21/32.19)
- Back – 1:06.53 (33.89/32.64)
- Breast – 1:15.60 (37.55/38.05)
- Free – 1:01.50 (31.33/30.17)
Ohashi nearly broke the Japanese record in the 200 IM at tonight’s finals session Lausanne, a 2:05.97 also held by Shimizu. Ohashi was 2:06.42, though, about a half second off of the mark.
With no clear American standout in the 400 IM long course, Ohashi’s improvement sets herself up for a major battle with Canadian IM’er Sydney Pickrem at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships. In Budapest this summer, Pickrem beat Ohashi out for the bronze medal in this event by just under two seconds, but Ohashi’s time drops this week suggest she’ll have more to fight with this coming summer.
Very appreciated “known for her immaculate stroke”.
PS Just a correction for a typo: Yui Ohashi, the 200 im (not 400 im, where silver medalist was Mireia Belmonte) silver medalist at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest..
Thanks for the catch.
Yes, her stroke is beautiful to watch! I think she will only continue to get better. She’ll be one of the big players in Tokyo, for sure.
Wonderful improvement for Ms. Ohasi, but no clear American standout? What about Leah Smith?
I don’t think she even swam it at Worlds, or if she did, she wasn’t close to a medal. Definitely not a stand out in the IM (obviously she is in the 400 free).
She did swim it at Budapest, got 6th in 4:36.09. Had a monster schedule. Based on her drop of more than 20 seconds from her previous best of 4:55, got to wonder what she is capable of doing when not swimming more than 6,000 meters like she did at worlds. Try being a freestyler for a very long time then switching to 4 IM. She won a national championship after all in 4:33. Let us see if she continues to swim it. She has potential to be a real standout & drop further. Remember, she pursued the 500 & broke 4:30, then nearly broke 4:00 in the 4 LC free.
Leah has huge potential ……thats clear , even in the IM’s
And is everyone counting out Ella Eastin too?