Catch Up On The Top 5 Performances Of the 2023 Japan Swim

2023 JAPAN SWIM

• Tuesday, April 4th – Sunday, April 9th
• Tokyo Aquatics Center
• LCM (50m)
• JPN Selection Criteria
• Day 1 Finals Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap/Day 4 Finals Recap/Day 5 Finals Recap/Day 6 Finals Recap
• Results

With several big meets happening around the world simultaneously, you may have missed some of the head-turning performances which took place at the 2023 Japan Swim. The meet represented the sole opportunity for the nation’s swimmers to qualify for this summer’s World Championships, as well as the Asian Games this fall.

Ultimately, a strong roster for Fukuoka was announced when all was said and done in Tokyo.

• Honda, Seto, Ikee & Narita Headline Japanese World Championships Roster

Here are our top 5 swims you may have missed from the 6-day affair.

#1 Katsuhiro Matsumoto‘s Japanese National Record in 100m Free – 47.85

26-year-old Katsuhiro Matsumoto wound up taking three individual titles at this Japan Swim, topping the podium across the men’s 100m free, 200m free and 100m fly.

Perhaps his most impressive performance came in the 1free, where he clinched the win in a new Japanese Record of 47.85. His outing crushed his own previous career-best of 48.35 set nearly 2 years ago but also overtook the previous national standard of 47.87 Katsumi Nakamura put on the books in 2018.

Matsumoto’s result rendered him the 7th Asian man to ever delve under the 48-second barrier in the 1free and just the 2nd Japanese man ever to do so.

Matsumoto now ranks 5th in the world on the season with Fukuoka on the horizon.

#2 Ryosuke Irie Earned 10th Consecutive 100m Backstroke Title – 53.46

On day two of the competition, 33-year-old Ryosuke Irie earned his 10th consecutive national title in the men’s 100m backstroke. He clocked a time of 53.46 to get to the wall one second ahead of the competition, qualifying for remarkably his 8th consecutive World Championships appearance in the process.

Although Irie’s time wasn’t even his season-best, as he had been 52.93 at January’s Kosuke Kitajima Cup, his performance reminds us once again that we cannot take his consistency for granted.

And, per Irie, we’ll be treated to his smooth stroke at least until Paris 2024. He said earlier this year, “I decided to strongly aim for the Paris Olympics to be held in 2024. I want to swim without regrets for the two years leading up to the Olympics.”

#3 Rikako Ikee Posted 2nd Fastest 50 Butterfly of Comeback – 25.59

After spending the majority of 2019 in the hospital battling leukemia, 22-year-old Rikako Ikee has been a source of inspiration worldwide. Her perseverance was epitomized by the fact that she made her 2nd Olympic team, representing Japan at the home Games in 2021 after just over a year back in the water.

And Ikee’s improvements in the pool continue, with the star reaping 4 individual titles at these championships. She took gold in the 50m free, 100m free, 50m fly and 100m fly, with her 50m fly time of 25.59 especially making some noise.

The time was just .03 off of her comeback-best of 25.56 posted at the 2021 Japan Olympic Trials. She now ranks 3rd in the world with a realistic shot at the podium in front of a home crowd this summer.

#4 Daiya Seto‘s 4:07.92 400m IM Performance

Olympic medalist Daiya Seto is seeking Tokyo Games redemption in earnest, logging one of the best 400m IM performances of his career.

28-year-old Seto fired off a massive 4:07.92 to handily defeat the field, with the next-closest swimmer represented by Tomoru Honda. Honda, who owns the short course 200m fly World Record, snagged silver in 4:10.37.

Both Seto and Honda cleared the minimum time standard of 4:12.50 to etch their names onto the roster for the home-based World Championships.

As for Seto, his effort easily surpassed the 4:10.14 previous season-best he registered last December and his result would have taken the gold at the 2020 Olympic Games.

His 4:07.92 also checked in as the versatile athlete’s 2nd best performance to date, sitting only behind his career-quickest 4:06.09 from the 2020 Kosuke Kitajima Cup.

Seto wore the world rankings crown for a matter of days until French weapon Leon Marchand took it back with his even faster 4:07.80 at this week’s Pro Swim Series in Westmont, Illinois.

#5 Airi Mitsui Enters the Top Tier of Women’s 200m Butterfly – 2:06.77

While we’re used to seeing Hiroko Makino and Suzuka Hasegawa winning national titles in the women’s 200m fly, a new star was born at this Japan Swim.

18-year-old Airi Mitsui crushed the swim of her life to win 200m fly gold and qualify for her first-ever World Championships.

Mitsui ripped a lifetime best of 2:06.77 to top the podium, denying past winner Makino the gold. Makino claimed silver in 2:07.45 while Chiho Mizuguchi bagged bronze in 2:08.89.

Opening in 1:01.76 and closing in 1:05.01, Mitsui produced the first outing of her career under the 2:07 barrier. Entering this meet the teen’s personal best rested at the 2:07.82 logged en route to winning this 2fly event at the 2022 Pan Pacific Championships.

Mitsui is now just the 5th Japanese woman ever to have produced a time in the 2:06 zone and she ranks 3rd in the world this season. Only newly-minted World Junior record holder Summer McIntosh of Canada and Great Briain’s Laura Stephens have been faster this season.