Japan Cracks Men’s & Women’s 4×50 Free Relay National Records

2019 SYDNEY OPEN MEET

Wrapping up the final event of the 2019 Sydney Open, the Japanese foursome of Katsuhiro Matsumoto, Shinri Shioura, Katsumi Nakamura and Kaiya Seki rocked a new National Record in the men’s 4x50m freestyle relay.

Collectively stopping the clock in a time of 1:28.35, the group overtook the previous NR of 1:28.69 that’s been on the books since 2012. Splits for the men include 22.36 for Shioura, 21.78 for Nakamura, 21.80 for Matsumoto and 22.41 for Seki.

The Japanese women also refreshed the national record in their edition of the same relay. Rika Omoto, Tomomi Aoki, Rio Shirai and Nagisa Ikemoto overtook the previous Japanese mark of 1:41.03, with split as follows: 25.10 for Omoto, 24.66 for Aoki, 25.63 for Shirai and 25.56 for Ikemoto.

The relays are a fitting end to the nation’s performances at the inaugural Sydney Open, where Daiya Seto racked up a trio of personal bests across the 400m free (3:48.19), 200m free (1:48.31) and 100m fly (51.94), while Omoto fired off the #2 200m IM time in the world of 2:08.64.

The nation has their 2nd huge meet coming up at the end of this month, the Japan Open Swim, where athletes have one last chance of adding their names to the roster for this summer’s World Championships.

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sven
5 years ago

Between his WR at SCM Worlds and his best times at this meet, Seto is looking good for the IMs and 200 fly this summer. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t medal in at least two of those.

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