Kajimoto, Imafuku Post Distance Freestyle Meet Records On Day One Of 2026 Kirara Cup

2026 KIRARA CUP

• Friday, February 6th – Sunday, February 8th
• Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park Swimming Pool
• LCM (50m)
• Results

We’re still waiting on the remaining results from day one of the 2026 Kirara Cup but we know that two competition records bit the dust tonight at the Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park Swimming Pool.

Following last month’s Kosuke Kitajima Cup and ahead of the annual Konami Open slated for later in February, several stars took to the pool in the women’s 800m free and men’s 1500m free events.

In the former, World Championships open water medalist Ichika Kajimoto set herself apart from the field in a big way, busting out a time of 8:32.91 to take the 8free.

21-year-old Kajimoto beat the pack by over eight seconds, with teammate Kokozono Okuzono snagging silver in 8:51.23 and Marin Nakano rounding out the podium in 8:59.35.

As for Kajimoto, her best-ever effort remains at the 8:26.02 she logged at the 2025 Japanese World Championship Trials to rank as the nation’s #3 performer in history. Last month, she notched a result of 8:26.81 at the aforementioned Kosuke Kitajima Cup to rank 4th in the world at the moment.

On the men’s side, Hirakata’s Kazushi Imafuku proved too quick to catch in the 1500m, hitting 15:00.77 to get to the wall nearly a minute ahead of his competitors.

The 18-year-old ace’s time was just over 10 seconds outside his career-swiftest mark of 14:50.18, the Japanese national record he established at last year’s World Championship Trials.

Imafuku’s meet record-setting result this evening checks in as a season-best and ranks him now 4th in the world on the season.