32-Yr-Old Satomi Suzuki Lowers Women’s 50 Breast Japanese Record To 30.10

37th SHIZUOKA INVITATIONAL SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS (JPN)

• Sunday, October 8th
• Shizuoka Prefecture Fuji Swimming Center
• LCM (50m)
• Results

The 37th Shizuoka Invitational Sprint Championships took place yesterday, Sunday, October 8th with one new Japanese national record being broken.

Competing in the women’s 50m breaststroke race, 32-year-old Satomi Suzuki lowered her own national record to 30.10 en route to topping the podium.

Her achievement sliced .04 off of the mark of 30.14 the speedster notched at this year’s Asian Games. There in Hangzhou, Suzuki’s former record snagged silver behind winner Tang Qianting who grabbed gold in 29.96.

Suzuki also earned silver in the 100m breast in Hangzhou, with her mark of 1:06.95 getting to the wall behind gold medalist Reona Aoki, also of Japan. Aoki took the gold in 1:06.81.

As for her new Japanese standard of 30.10, Suzuki said, “I’m extremely happy.

“I’ve been invited to the Shizuoka Invitational for the 13th consecutive year. It’s watched by may children.” (Big Globe)

The Japanese racing mainstay has been on the international racing scene for over a decade, making her Olympic debut at the 2012 Games. There in London, Suzuki brought home the silver in the 200m breast, bronze in the 100m breast and bronze as a member of her nation’s women’s 4x100m medley relay.

But at the following Games in Rio, the highest-place finish from Suzuki came in the 100m breast where she missed the final, settling for 12th place. 5 years later, she missed making the Japanese Olympic team alltogether.

Suzuki is having a breakthrough year, however, experiencing a career resurgence which included making the 50m breast final at the 2023 World Championships. Her prelims result of 30.29 in Fukuoka represented Suzuki’s best time in 5 years.

She says she will be using these recent improvements as fuel to replicate her London results at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“I want to make an Olympic final again,” said Suzuki.

Whereas other events have seen rising stars make their marks, including Mio Narita in the IMs and Airi Mitsui in the 200m fly, the women’s 100m breaststroke Olympic event within Japan has been relatively stagnant.

Aoki remains the top gold medal contender for next year’s Japanese Olympic Trials, while the 2nd slot for the Paris roster is up for grabs. Suzuki will be in the hunt along with the likes of Yukino Miyasaka, Mai Fukasawa and Runa Imai; however, they’re all tightly packed and it will take another leap forward from one of these swimmers to punch her ticket to the Olympic Games.