Both Olympians Kosuke Hagino and Yui Ohashi of Japan got some racing in over the weekend, taking on the Tokyo Northern Block competition. Official results are not yet published, but according to Japanese media, the duo threw down some solid outings to get their 2019 underway.
Neither athlete took part in the Short Course World Championships, where teammate Daiya Seto nailed a new 200m fly World Record. But, both Hagino and Ohashi have big meets on the horizon, as the Japan Championships in April serves as the nation’s qualifying meet for this year’s World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.
For his part, reigning 400m IM Olympic champion Hagino took on the men’s SCM 100 freestyle, an uncharacteristic event for the 24-year-old. His time essentially reflected that, coming in at a modest 49.03.
Hagino’s SCM 100 back was more in-tune with how the versatile athlete usually performs, with Hagino punching a result of 51.97, a solid time for being under heavy training. Finally, Hagino nailed a time of 51.63 in the SCM 100 fly, another respectable swim considering all 3 events are outside his usual bread-and-butter of IM and mid-distance free.
Ohashi’s marks were also outside her IM specialty, with the 23-year-old racing both the SCM 100 and 200 breaststroke events. In the shorter sprint, Ohashi nailed a time of 1:07.58, while she registered an outing of 2:22.99 in the longer distance. Her 200m time sits just outside the top 25 performances of the 2018/19 SCM season.
