Japan’s Kosuke Hagino has crushed the Asian Record in the 400 long course IM on day 1 of the 2013 Japanese National Swimming Championships in Niigata Prefecture, just north of Tokyo.
Hagino is the defending bronze medalist in the 400 IM from the Olympics, and with the two men ahead of him (Ryan Lochte and Thiago Pereira) having both wavered in their commitment to the event since the Games, he may now become the favorite to take the World Championship.
Hagino split a 4:07.61, which broke the Japanese and Asian Records in the event that had previously stood at 4:08.94 (from that Olympic swim). The big difference in his time-drop of more than a second came on the backstroke leg, where he had a big drop without giving up anything on the pursuing breaststroke, or very much on the closing freestyle legs. His comparative splits:
| Fly | Back | Breast | Free | Total | |
| Hagino ’13 | 56.32 | 1:00.99 | 1:11.53 | 58.77 | 4:07.61 |
| Hagino ’12 | 56.77 | 1:02.41 | 1:11.56 | 58.20 | 4:08.94 |
This now makes him the 5th-fastest in the history of the event, behind only Phelps, Lochte, Cseh, and Clary.
In other races on the day, Hagino’s fellow Kosuke, the legendary Kosuke Kitajima, won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:00.78, followed by Akihiro Yamaguchi in 1:00.81, and Koichiro Okazaki in 1:00.86. That’s not the best race at the top end we’ve seen from this usually-loaded breaststroke field, but with five guys under 1:01 in the final, they’re still as deep as ever. Specifically, Yamaguchi, who is the World Record holder in the 200, was more than a second from his best time in this event, so don’t expect anything too crazy in the longer race.
Shinri Shioura won the men’s 100 free in 48.78, as the Japanese sprint group still isn’t really showing great signs of improvement (unlike their Asian rivals in China).
On the women’s side, the biggest event was the 100 meter breaststroke, where Satomi Suzuki swam a 1:07.43, followed by Kanako Watanabe in 1:07.47 and Rie Kaneto in 1:07.83. That makes them three of the nine swimmers who have been under 1:08 this year.
In the women’s 400 free, 17-year old Chihiro Igarashi won in 4:10.67. The oldest swimmer in the A-final of that race was 21-year old Ayano Koguchi, who was 8th in 4:17.62.
Overall, Hagino’s swim stands out as it was really the lone explosive result from a meet that usually harbors several early world leaders.
look for chase kalisz to be in the hunt this summer!
It’s too early for next summer. I see him around 4.09/4.10. He still has to improve his backstroke. But in the next years I see him as the man to beat.
Lochte isn’t dropping the event. According to the last interview he did with Mel on here, he’s just not training for it anymore. He said he was posting times in practice that are close to his best in yards, so he is going to keep swimming it in big meets, just not training specifically for it.
http://swimswam.com/ryan-lochte-dropping-400-im-brendan-hansen-says-i-married-up/
This was the last Ive heard about Lochte regarding the 400IM
And I got Hagino pegged as the winner of the 400 IM gold this summer. I don’t see le Clos, Clary, or Pereira taking him down. He can push the 4:06 barrier for sure.
I’ve thought about this. Until today, I’ve pegged Clary as the winner.He’s been 4:09 low 3 years ago. In which time, he’s dropped a second and a half in the 200back, and about a second in the 200fly. We don’t know about the other events, but in retrospect, he probably would’ve swam to silver had he actually competed in London. He dropped just over a second in 200 distance from trials to London, so he cold’ve dropped, theoretically, about two seconds in the 400. He hasn’t really competed since London, so given that the 400im is at the end of the end, I wasn’t expecting to see better than 408.5 as the winning time.
Of course things have now changed.… Read more »
Philip Johnson,
Pereira RETIRED from swimming 400IM.In Maria Lenk Trophy(in two weeks) he will be swimming 100 free and 100fly instead of 400IM.
That’s too bad .. Especially with Lochte dropping the event and Phelps gone, he would definitely be a medal contender.
Pereira already dropped 400IM to swim 100 fy and 100 free..
Japan also produces world class swimmers, but the crop of young swimmers they have now is unbelievable – Hagino, Irie, and Yamaguchi. They have a bright future ahead.
I wish hagino wasn’t disqualified the other week during the 400IM. From that we could see how much time he drops during taper, because his 200back time 155.1, is so fast that if he swims it this week/in Barce, he could join or at least challenge the Irie-Clary-Lochte Oligopoly in this event.
Except the great race of Kosuke Hagino in the 400 IM, times are very disappointing. Times on breaststroke are very slow! Incredibly slow! Our best French, Giacomo Perez Dortona, who was already bad yesterday with his 1.00.64, would have beaten Kosuke Kitajima and Akihiro Yamaguchi! What happens to the breaststrokers this week? They also still don’t improve in the men’s 100 free. USA can be calm for the medley relay. Americans will win this race in Barcelona.