2023 Japan Open Day 3: Tomoru Honda Nabs 200 Fly Victory In 1:53.99

2023 JAPAN OPEN

• Thursday, November 30th – Sunday, December 3rd
• Tokyo Aquatics Center
• LCM (50m)
• Entries (in Japanese)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

Olympic silver medalist Tomoru Honda already made noise at this 2023 Japan Open, winning the men’s 400m IM on day one with a new lifetime best of 4:09.98.

On day three, the 21-year-old established his presence once again, taking on his pet event of the men’s 200m butterfly.

Honda got to the wall in a time of 1:53.99 to produce his 2nd-best time of the season. Opening in 54.61 and closing in 59.38, Honda’s effort came within striking distance of the 1:53.15 meet record he logged for gold at this year’s Asian Games. That faster result rendered him the #1 swimmer in the world.

Behind Honda this evening was visiting Aussie Olympian Matt Temple.

24-year-old Temple touched in 1:55.41 to hold off a charging Daiki Tanaka who bagged bronze in 1:55.66.

Temple’s time represents the 2nd best performance of the Marion swimmer’s career and fastest outside of a championship meet. His PB stands at the 1:55.25 he registered 2 years ago.

Temple and Tanaka now rank 5th and 6th in the world, respectively, this season.

Another Aussie dove in tonight with 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Elizabeth Dekkers taking on the 200m fly on the women’s side.

Dekkers stopped the clock in a result of 2:07.12 to lead the pack by well over a second. Karin Uchida touched next in 2:08.66 while World Championships finalist Airi Mitsui also landed on the podium in 2:09.09.

Dekkers took silver in this 2fly at this year’s World Championships, posting a time in Fukuoka of 2:05.46. Her time this evening checks her in as the #2 performer in the world right now.

Additional Notes

• Ichika Kajimoto won the women’s 800m free in a time of 8:36.71, a mark which would have garnered her a 4th place finish at this year’s Asian Games.
• Miki Takahashi topped the women’s 50m back podium in 28.36 while Aussie Bradley Woodward registered 25.13 as the men’s winner.
• The women’s 100m free saw Nagisa Ikemoto put up a time of 54.47 as the sole sub-55-second swimmer of the field. The Olympian split 26.37/28.10 to come under half a second from her lifetime best of 54.11 from August of this year.
• Matthew Galea of Australia touched first in the men’s 400m free, hitting 3:48.72. He’s been as quick as 3:47.54 this year, a time he earned at the Pro Championships this past July.
• 2022 World Junior champion Mio Narita doubled up on her 400m IM victory earlier in the meet with a gold in the 200m IM this evening. The 16-year-old notched 2:10.70 to lead Olympic champion Yui Ohashi who settled for silver in 2:11.08. Aussie Ella Ramsay was next in 2:12.26.
• So Ogata nabbed 200m IM gold for the men in 1:57.65 ahead of Tomoyuki Matsushita‘s outing of 1:58.12 as runner-up.
• The University of Michigan Wolverine Letitia Sim posted her 3rd Singaporean national record of this competition. After nailing new marks in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events, Sim placed 2nd in the B-final of the women’s 200m IM in 2:13.76. That overwrote her own previous NR of 2:14.49 hit at this year’s Southeast Asian Games. She is redshirting this NCAA season to focus on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.