Daiya Seto Comes Within .03 Of Lochte’s SCM 400 IM World Record

61ST JAPANESE SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

25-year-oldย Daiya Seto is in the form of his life, having taken double gold at this year’s World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. After topping the podium there in the 200m IM and 400m IM, Seto earned automatic berths for his home nation-hosted Summer Olympic Games next year, per the Japanese Swimming Federation selection policy.

But the man is doing anything but resting on his laurels, continuing to race and joining the International Swimming League (ISL) Team Energy Standard for its inaugural season. He also is just coming back from an intense high-altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Entering these Japanese Short Course Swimming Championships, Seto said he was feeling particularly strong and ready to attack the SCM 400 IM record as a goal.

When the dust settled tonight on day 1 at the Tatsumi Interaintoaoi Swimming Center, the ANA swimmer indeed took the 400m IM gold in a time of 3:55.53, falling only .03 outside of American Ryan Lochte‘s World Record set at the 2010 Short Course World Championships in Dubai.

Seto’s previous personal best in the 400m IM rested at the 3:56.33 he put up at the 2014 Short Course World Championships. That represented the Japanese national record in the event, as well as the Asian continental record.

Tonight, however, Seto dropped that down by well over half a second to produce the fastest time of his career in 3:55.53 and nearly claim his 2nd SCM World Record. He already owns the 200m fly mark (1:48.24) from last year’s Short Course World Championships.

After his race, Seto told Asian media, “.03 is really frustrating,” in terms of narrowly missing the WR.

Breakdown of Seto’s Japanese national record and Asian record-setting swim tonight is as follows:

24.33
1:22.60
1:52.25
2:25.38
2:59.43
3:27.83
3:55.53

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The unoriginal Tim
4 years ago

This is beast mode. It hurts to even think about.

Rebecca
4 years ago

The events are packed in this 2-day only champ. You can see the race at around 3hr 43m on the video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5hIhYCmdwxI

Boomer
4 years ago

Does anyone know when/if Seto will race for Energy Standard at ISL this season??? He’ll undoubtedly be a huge asset with his versatility and short course ability. Would be a really important addition for Energy Standard to try and beat Roar / LA

Admin
Reply to  Boomer
4 years ago

I’m assuming it’s only the final in Vegas. They don’t need him to advance, and given the late signing, I assume he took some convincing. So, no reason for him to come all the way to DC, go home, and come all the way back.

Dcswim
4 years ago

I want a Gold Medal Minute about Seto. Where you at Mel??? ๐Ÿ‘€

BKP
4 years ago

Lochte’s record swim
https://youtu.be/cUqNru3jxrA

After Seto swam that 3.56 a few years back I thought he would break Lochte’s record soon after considering Lochte seemingly mis-paced this race to some degree. He was 54 coming home! Insane! …he had too much gas left in the tank. If he had raced this event (SCM) a couple more times in his prime, he could have gone 3.54 or better!

Liam
4 years ago

Coming from a country without walls being emphasized to beat lo gets record means he must have something special in store for long coursw

H1H2
4 years ago

Not messing around before Tokyo ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

Togger
4 years ago

That is some swim. I canโ€™t think of a more Lochte race than 4IM short course, to get within .03 of that shows Kalisz is going to need to pull it together this year to even challenge him.

bear drinks beer
Reply to  Togger
4 years ago

Kaisz should make the team first. It’s not granted.

Kevin
Reply to  bear drinks beer
4 years ago

True. He has to get through Litherland and maybe lochte in the 400, and Lochte and Andrew in the 200.

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Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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