2024 Japanese SC Championships – Women: Tennessee Commit Mizuki Hirai Takes Double Gold

2024 JAPANESE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, October 19th & Sunday, October 20th
• Tokyo Aquatics Centre
• SCM (25m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Men’s Recap
• Results

The 2024 Japanese Short Course Championships wrapped up over the weekend with the competition representing the primary qualification opportunity for December’s Short Course World Championships.

Although heavy hitters such as Olympian Rikako Ikee opted out of the meet, there were plenty of key athletes who made their presence known over the course of the 2-day affair.

One woman who topped the podium on two occasions was Mizuki Hirai, the rising 17-year-old star who has committed to the University of Tennessee for fall 2025.

Hirai took on the 50m back and 100m fly events, coming up with the gold in both.

In the former, Hirai hit a time of 26.66 to lead a trio of swimmers who notched efforts under the 27-second threshold. Miki Takahashi snagged the silver just .01 behind in 26.76 while Ryoko Kamei bagged the bronze in 26.77.

Hiria’s outing represents a new personal best and renders her Japan’s 8th-fastest performer of all-time.

Then in the 100m fly, Olympic finalist Hirai clocked at time of 55.86 to decisively beat the field by well over a second.

Splitting 25.83/30.03, Hirai held a comfortable advantage over Natsuki Hiroshita and Nanami Nishizawa who scored the minor medals. The former turned in a time of 57.30 to the latter’s 57.45.

Hirai’s 55.86 checks the teen in as Japan’s #2 performer of all time. The only racer who has been quicker is 3-time Olympian Ikee who owns the national record at the 55.31 registered in 2018.

Top 5 Japanese Women’s SCM 100 Butterfly Performers All-Time

1. Rikako Ikee – 55.31, 2018
2. Mizuki Hirai – 55.86, 2024
3. Yuka Kato – 56.09, 2013
4. Ai Soma – 56.27, 2022
5. Yuka Katou – 56.37, 2011

Additional Women’s Notes

• Yume Jinno grabbed gold in both the women’s 50m and 100m free sprints. Yume clocked a time of 24.25 as the victor in the 50m and produced 53.42 in the 100m. Her splash n’ dash outing sliced .24 off her previous PB, making her the 4th-best Japanese performer in history. The 100m result lowered her previous personal best of 53.44 by .02.
• Miyu Namba topped both the women’s 400m and 800m free podiums, hitting respective efforts of 3:59.78 and 8:16.68. Her 400m free time was just of her PB of 3:59.47 from 2021. She is the 800m free national record with her PB of 8:12.98 from when she collected bronze at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
• A new Japanese Junior Record bit the dust at the hands of Shuna Sasaki. The 15-year-old punched a time of 59.72 to top the podium. Sasaki was the girls’ 400m IM bronze medalist at this year’s Junior Pan Pacific Championships and placed 4th in the 200m IM event.