Yui Ohashi Nails 4:33 400 IM, Ikee Races ‘Off Events’ In Tokyo

THE 50TH TOKYO SWIMMING CENTER INVITATIONAL SWIM MEET

• Wednesday, November 21st – Sunday, November 25th
• Tatsumi International Swim Center
• LCM
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Meet Site
• Results

The Japanese racing train kept on rolling this weekend, as several of the nation’s big guns followed up the Kosuke Kitajima Cup from last weekend with the Tokyo Swimming Center Invitational Swim Meet in Tokyo this week. Kosuke Hagino, Daiya Seto, Rikako Ikee and Yui Ohashi were just a few of the top competitors that threw down at the Tatsumi International Swim Center.

Meet Highlights

For Olympic champion Hagino’s part, the 24-year-old produced a solid 400m IM to top the podium in the event, raking in a winning effort of 4:15.57. In the very early accumulation of LCM world rankings, that puts Bridgestone’s Hagino at the top of the list of competitors for the 2018/2019 season.

Hagino fell short of the top prize in the sprint 200m IM event, however, as ANA’s Seto soared to the lead and never looked back. Seto wound up winning the race handily in a time of 1:57.22 to Hagino’s runner-up result of 1:59.08.

For Seto, his time overtakes China’s Qin Hiayang as the #1 swimmer in the world this season. It also rivals the 1:57.13 Seto put up at the 2018 Asian Games that left him disappointingly off the podium in 4th. In that race in Jakarta, it was China’s Wang Shun who took gold in 1:56.52, while Hagino earned silver 1:56.75.

Straight off altitude camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, seasoned racer Ryosuke Irie got the job done in the men’s 200m back, clocking a time of 1:56.78 for the victory. Hagino was also a competitor in the 200m back event, earning a time of 1:58.88 for silver behind the 28-year-old.

The women’s 200m backstroke National High School Record was broken by Anna Konisha, as the Asian Games silver medalist in the 100m back broke the 21-year-old record this weekend. The teen put up a time of 2:16.70 to overtake the previous record of 2:16.95 set by Miyuki Tanka way back in 1997.

Although she fell short of the gold in the women’s 200m fly, Yui Ohashi produced a new personal best in the event, capturing the silver in a mark of 2:07.03. Charging to the wall first, however, was German swimmer Franziska Hentke, who finished in 2:06.50 to deny the Japanese swimmer the win.

Also in the race was sprinter Ikee, who raced outside her bread-and-butter sprint free/fly events to take on this 200m fly, finishing 10th in a time of 2:18.43.

Ikee wound up on the top of the podium in the 200m free, however, taking the top prize in a casual 1:57.37. The 18-year-old owns the Japanese National Record in the event with the 1:54.85 thrown down for silver at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships.

Ohashi produced another downright punishing effort in the women’s 400m IM, however, as the Asian Games champion fired off a mark of 4:33.25 to win by well over 9 seconds. Ohashi’s mark this weekend outperformed the 4:34.58 produced to take the title in Jakarta, as well as beat the 4:34.50 she registered for 4th at the 2017 FINA World Championships.

It’s a solid follow-up to the 4:32.00 she threw down last weekend at the Kosuke Kitajima Cup that positions her as the #1 swimmer in the world this season.

• Reigning 200m breaststroke World Record holder Ippei Watanabe took the men’s 100m breast in 1:00.13.
• The men’s 100m fly saw Nao Horomura win the gold in 52.87.
• Rio Shirai was the women’s 400m freestyle winner in a time of 4:13.82. She also won the 200m back in 2:10.90.
• The women’s 100m breaststroke winner was Reona Aoki, as the national record holder produced a winning effort of 1:07.39. Ikee tried her hand at this off-event, finishing in 1:09.10 for the silver.
• Ohashi was the women’s 100m fly winner, ending up with a time of 58.08 to beat Suzuka Hasegawa‘s runner-up effort of 58.95.