2018 Japan Swim: Ageless Ryosuke Irie Rocks World Rankings

2018 JAPAN SWIM (JAPANESE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS)

Day 2 finals in Tokyo saw 2 national records go down to bring the meet total to 3 thus far. As reported, Rikako Ikee cranked out a new best time and NR in the women’s 100m butterfly with her gold medal-garnering effort of 56.38. That bumps her ahead of teen rival Penny Oleksiak of Canada on the all-time top performers in the event.

Additionally tonight, Kengo Ida snatched a new national record in the men’s 50m fly, topping the Tokyo podium in a mark of 23.40. We reported earlier how Ida, who finished 4th in this event at last year’s edition of the meet, was able to hack .05 off of the old national record of 23.45 to establish himself as the sprint master in the butterfly discipline at the 2018 Japan Swim.

Yukimi Moriyama was tonight’s 800m freestyle victor for the women, clinching the title in a mark of 8:31.44.

In the men’s 100m backstroke, the ongoing duel between national record holder Ryosuke Irie and fellow veteran swimmer Junya Koga that we saw throughout prelims and semi’s continued tonight, with Irie capturing a 3-0 victory over his rival. Irie clocked 53.18 to win tonight’s gold medal, while Koga touched less than half a second behind in 53.62 for silver. They represented the only 2 competitors to dip under the 54 second threshold in the race.

For the seemingly ageless 28-year-old Irie, his time now hops over American Ryan Murphy to sit as the 2nd fastest in the world this year. Irie’s outing tonight overtook his own season-best of 53.26 from the Pro Swim Series Atlanta. Koga, who is 30 years of age, is now situated as the 6th fastest swimmer in the world. Both men’s performances carry weight headed into Pan Pacific Championships happening later this summer.

2017-2018 LCM MEN 100 BACK

RyanUSA
MURPHY
08/10
51.94
2Jiayu
XU
CHN52.3408/19
3Kliment
KOLESNIKOV
RUS52.51*WJR08/06
4Ryosuke
IRIE
JPN52.5308/19
5Matt
GREVERS
USA52.5507/28
6Evgeny
RYLOV
RUS52.6704/23
7Mitchell
LARKIN
AUS52.8808/10
8Grigory
TARASEVICH
RUS53.2208/06
9Justin
RESS
USA53.2607/28
10Simone
SABBIONI
ITA53.3908/05
View Top 26»

After notching a prelims and semi time under the 60-second threshold in outings of 59.82 and 58.96, respectively, Yasuhiro Koseki scored the men’s 100m breaststroke gold in a final time of 59.30. He remained as the only swimmer to delve into sub-minute territory, with Hayato Watanabe finished in 1:00.18 for silver, while reigning 200m breaststroke world record holder Ippei Watanabe nabbed bronze in 1:00.27. Of note, Hiromasa Fujimori was disqualified in the race.

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IM FAN
6 years ago

Irie really stepped up for the 2014 Asian games after a lack luster 2013. Looks like he might have some big swims again ( Though Xu will really be tough)

Swimgod
6 years ago

Phelps won in Rio at 31. I’d say old is 33 and above (ahem Lochte)

Michael
6 years ago

Um…”Additionally tonight, Kengo Ida snatched a new national record in the men’s 50m breaststroke, topping the Tokyo podium in a mark of 23.40″…Think that’s supposed to say 50m fly, not 50m breast right…cause if he just popped off a 23.40 in the 50 breast then I think that would be the highlight of this article here…

Ol' Longhorn
6 years ago

If there were an Olympic event for a water bottle on the forehead, he’d win it by a mile.

Bossanova
6 years ago

28 isn’t that old. Not anymore.

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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