Budapest 2022, Day 2 Asia Recap: Ryosuke Irie Could Make History

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
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The nation of Japan is still seeking its first swimming medal of the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships and its first piece of hardware could indeed make history.

Backstroking ace Ryosuke Irie raced his way into the men’s 100m backstroke final, producing a time of 53.16 in the heats followed by 52.85 in the semi-finals. The latter performance rendered Irie the 7th seeded swimmer heading into tonight’s final.

Irie has been on the international racing scene since 2006, beginning his elite career by winning the 200m back gold medal at that year’s Asian Games. Throughout his tenure, Irie has reaped 3 Olympic medals along with 4 Long Course World Championships medals in the backstroke discipline.

Here in Budapest, we already saw Brazilian Nicholas Santos take silver in the men’s 50m fly to become the oldest swimmer ever to have ever won a Worlds medal.

With Irie’s age standing at 32 years, 147 days, should he win a medal in tonight’s 100m back, he would insert himself in slot #7 on the list compiled below by SwimSwam’s Swimming Stats. Irie would also become the oldest Asian to ever win a World Championships medal.

If Irie finds himself off the podium in this 1back event, he still has the 200m backstroke race later in the meet.

National Records Through Day 2

• South Korea: men’s 4×100 free relay – 3:15.68
• Malaysia: Khiew Hoe Yean, men’s 400m freestyle – 3:48.72
• Kyrgyzstan: Denis Petrashov, men’s 50m breaststroke – 27.89
• China: Tang Qianting, women’s 50m breaststroke – 30.25
• Singapore: Gan Ching Hwe, women’s 1500m freestyle – 16:32.43

MEDAL TABLE (ASIA)