Japanese Icon Ryosuke Irie Dips Under 53 Seconds In 100 Back For 27th Time

2022 JAPANESE SELECTION MEET

  • Wednesday, March 2nd – Saturday, March 5th
  • Tatsumi International Swimming Centre, Tokyo, Japan
  • LCM (50m)
  • Selection Meet for 2022 Budapest World Championships, 2022 Asian Games, World University Games
  • Day 1 Recap
  • Results

There was big-time action taking place in Tokyo tonight, with several records biting the dust before all was said and done on night 2 of the Japanese Selection Meet.

We reported on Reona Aoki breaking the Japanese national record in the women’s 50m breast (30.27), as well as the World Junior Record* put up by 15-year-old Mio Narita en route to silver. Also in that 400m IM, Ageha Tanigawa established a new Japanese High School National Record with her impressive 4:36.45 as the winner.

Among the haze of monster efforts, solid and dependable performances were also logged by the likes of Ryosuke Irie.

32-year-old Irie threw down another impressive race once again in the men’s 100m backstroke. After landing lane 4 with a super solid morning swim of 53.60, Irie stepped things up to crush a result of 52.94 to grab the gold and qualify for the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest this June/July.

Splitting 25.70/27.24, Olympic medalist Irie put up the 27th sub-53 second time of his career, further solidifying him as one of the best men ever to race this discipline.

For perspective, American Matt Grevers put up 28 100m backstroke performances throughout his career that each dipped under the 53-second threshold while still-active Ryan Murphy is on track to do similar damage with 23 performances in the 52-second zone.

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Ol' Longhorn
1 year ago

He drops these 52s in the 100 back like Nathan Adrian used to drop 48s in the 100 free.

Ol' Longhorn
1 year ago

And he did it with a cup of water on his forehead. Amazing.

Stewart 100 back gold in Fukuoka
1 year ago

Hasegawa and Seto both DNS 200 fly heat. Don’t know what’s happening.

burnout

Yeah, I can understand Seto scratching events after being confined to a hotel room in February, but sucks to see Hasegawa scratch too..

Stewart 100 back gold in Fukuoka
Reply to  burnout
1 year ago

Seto swam 200 IM latter in the session, so maybe he’s just not in the form of doing double. Still don’t know about Hasegawa.

Stan Crump
1 year ago

Prettiest stroke underwater that I have ever seen! Nice to hear he is still bringing it.

Swimmingrules!!!
1 year ago

I don’t understand how someone can be soooooo consistent in the sport of swimming, one of the most physically and mentally taxing sports in the world.

There's no doubt that he's tightening up
1 year ago

My man has been crushing 52s since some of his current competitors were learning to count to 52.

NONA
1 year ago

He’s the coolest

neffry
1 year ago

Irie is the pinnacle of Backstroke form Aesthetic. Glad to see him still crushing it.

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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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