Ippei Watanabe Hits 59.84 100 Breast At Kirara Cup

2023 KIRARA CUP

• Saturday, February 11th & Sunday, February 12th
• Kirara Expo Park, Yamaguchi, Japan
• LCM
• Results

The 2023 Kirara Cup is taking place in Yamaguchi, Japan this weekend. The 2-day affair represents the second of three annual ‘K’ meets, which take place take place in the first few months of every new calendar year.

Along with the completed Kosuke Kitajima Cup and next week’s Konami Open, the trifecta of competitions offer up prime racing opportunities for domestic swimmers with the nation’s World Championships Trials already on the horizon in April.

Former World Record holder Ippei Watanabe dove in on day one, with the 25-year-old taking on the men’s 100m breaststroke. Watanabe touched in a time of 59.84 for the gold, representing the only racer in the field to get under the 1:01 barrier.

Watanabe’s effort here checks in as a season-best, overtaking the 1:00.25 he produced earlier this month at the aforementioned Kosuke Kitajima Cup. His time also is within striking distance of his own career-best in the event, a mark which stands at the 59.58 produced in 2019.

Watanabe represents the first Japanese athlete to get under the 1:00 threshold this season and now ranks 3rd in the world overall.

Historically the 200m breast has been Watanabe’s much stronger event, with the Toyota swimmer having once owned the WR in his lifetime best of 2:06.67 from 2017. We’ll see what he has in store for that longer distance tomorrow.

Additional winners on day one of the Kirara Cup included Junya Koga taking the 50m back in a time of 25.50 and Sou Ogata topping the podium in both the men’s 200m back and the men’s 200m fly. In the former Ogata posted a time of 1:58.76 while he reaped gold in the latter in 1:56.02.

Ogata now ranks as the 2nd fastest performer in the world this season in the 200m fly.