Genki Terakado Hits Early Season 1:54.73 LCM 200 Fly At Kosuke Kitajima Cup

2025 KOSUKE KITAJIMA CUP

• Friday, January 24th – Sunday, January 26th
• Tokyo Aquatics Center, Tokyo, Japan
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Results

We entered day two of the 2025 Kosuke Kitajima Cup from the Tokyo Aquatics Center, the site of swimming action at the 2020 Olympic Games. The 3-day competition represents one of three annual ‘K’ meets, with both the annual Konami Open and Kirara Cup taking place next month.

This competition represents a qualifying opportunity for swimmers to etch their names onto the Japanese roster for this year’s World Championships. The primary qualification meet is the Japan Swim slated for April.

The men’s 200m IM event saw its top 5 finishers delve under the 2:00 barrier, led by Olympian So Ogata.

21-year-old Ogata clocked a time of 1:57.62 to get the edge over Kosuke Makino who settled for silver just .05 behind in 1:57.67. Yuta Watanabe rounded out the podium in 1:59.23.

So represents Japan’s #3 performer of all time, with his lifetime best of 1:57.06 from the 2023 World Championships sitting only behind national record holder Kosuke Hagino‘s 1:55.07 and Daiya Seto‘s 1:55.55.

Makino also ranks among Japan’s best, owning the 5th slot, courtesy of his career-quickest result of 1:57.24 from last September’s Japan Student Championships.

Checking in on this season’s LCM rakings, Ogata now takes over as the world’s #1 performer, beating his previous season-best of 1:58.50 from last month’s Japan Open.

Watanabe now slides into the 3rd position behind already-on-the-board Takumi Mori‘s 1:57.71 also from Tokyo.

University of Tennessee commit Mizuki Hirai was back in action, doubling up on her women’s 50m fly skins victory from last night.

This evening, Hirai touched first in the women’s 100m free in 55.34, getting to the wall over half a second ahead of the pack.

The next closest competitor was Rio Suzuki, who dipped under the 56-second barrier in 55.97 as Tamura Mayu bagged bronze in 56.33.

Hirai’s early-season outing ranks her just outside the list of top 10 performers in the world thus far.

Olympian and national record holder Katsuhiro Matsumoto got it done for gold in the men’s 100m free, his 2nd title of the competition after topping the men’s 50 fly skins on day one.

Matsumoto registered a time of 48.72 as one of two swimmers under the 49-second threshold.

It was 17-year-old Tatsuya Murasa who opened in 23.59 to Matsumoto’s front half of 23.62, but Matsumoto held on until the end to relegate Murasa to runner-up in 48.89. Hara Soraki was the 3rd place finisher in 49.59.

Just as with last night’s 100m free outing, Murasa’s time in this shorter distance fell just a hair off his lifetime best of 48.87, a performance produced last September. Matsumoto already ranks #2 in the world due to his 48.46 from December.

Finally, sans 2020 Olympic silver medalist Tomoru Honda in the field, it was fellow Olympian Genki Terakado who was the top performer in the men’s 200m fly.

Terakado turned in a time of 1:54.73 to remain #1 in the world, with his result this evening overtaking his previous season-best of 1:55.43 from the Japan Open.

Hiro Kawano snagged silver in 1:56.65 and South Korean Olympian Kim Minseop rounded out the top trio in 1:56.69.

Terakado’s swim came within striking distance of his lifetime best of 1:54.07 notched at last year’s Trials to place him on Japan’s Paris squad.

Additional Winners

• Umi Ishikuza won the women’s 200m fly in 2:08.45 as the sole sub-2:10 swimmer.
• Shiho Matsumoto clocked a time of 2:11.98 to grab women’s 200m IM gold by well over a second.
• The women’s 50m back skins’ final showdown saw Miki Hayashi get the edge over Miri Sasaki, with the former hitting 28.63 to the latter’s 29.32.
• Riko Matsumata topped the men’s 50m back skins in a final round time of 26.44 to Kato Osamu‘s 27.28.
• 33-year-old Olympic finalist Satomi Suzuki cleared the field in the women’s 50m breast skins, beating Reona Aoki in the final race 31.21 to 31.31.
• Makao Ohashi got it done for gold in the men’s 50m breast skins, logging 28.14 to beat head-to-head competitor Hayato Watanabe‘s 28.51 result.