JPN Student C’ships: Nation Boasts Another 51 100 Flyer & 1:58 200 IMer

96TH JAPAN STUDENT SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, October 1st – Sunday, October 4th
• Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center
• LCM (50m)
• Entries (in Japanese)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results

The 96th Japan Student Swimming Championships roared on from Tokyo tonight, as swimmers from around the nation took on day 3.

Niigata Medical’s Yuya Tanaka was among them, with the 22-year-old throwing down a new lifetime best of 51.76 to reap gold in the men’s 100m fly. Splitting 23.79/27.97, Tanaka nailed one of two sub-52 second times of the field, with Hosei University’s Kota Akabane snagging silver in 51.83.

Tanaka competed in this sprint fly event at the 2019 World University Games (Summer Universiade), where he placed 5th in a time of 52.32. His 51.76 time here now checks him in among Japan’s best-ever, ranking the man 6th. Akabane now ranks as the 7th fastest Japanese swimmer all-time.

Japanese Men’s All-Time Men’s 100 Fly Performers

1. Kouhei Kawamoto, 51.00 2009
2. Shinnosuke Ishikawa, 51.11 2019
3. Takuro Fujii, 51.24 2009
4. Naoki Mizunuma 51.43 2019
5. Yuki Kobori, 51.69 2017
6. Yuya Tanaka, 51.76 2020
7. Kota Akabane, 51.83 2020
8. Takaya Yasue, 51.84 2019
9. Takeshi Kawamoto, 51.89, 2015
10. Hirofumi Ikebata, 51.89, 2014

The women’s 100m fly saw on-fire Suzuka Hasegawa rip another sub-58 second performance, clearing the field in a mighty 57.70. Comprised of splits of 26.87/30.83, Hasegawa’s effort tonight was just off the 57.49 she produced at the Tokyo Special Swimming Tournament in August. That time rendered the 20-year-old as Japan’s 2nd fastest performer ever.

Syuya Matsumoto was the top finisher in the men’s edition of the 200m IM, hitting a solid effort of 1:58.94 to grab the gold. That checks in as a monster personal best for the Chukyo University swimmer who had never before been under the 2:00.

Matsumoto’s previous career-best rested at the 2:00.08 he produced nearly exactly one year ago. As such, he dropped over a second to beat out runner-up Ippei Miyamoto who touched in 1:59.42. The reigning World University Games champion Juran Mizohata rounded out the top 3 with a mark tonight of 1:59.47. He took the gold in Naples in a stellar 1:58.58.

Matsumoto’s effort here renders him as Japan’s 8th fastest performer ever and ranks him as #2 in the world early on in this season.

Additional Notes:

• Rio Shirai topped the women’s 200m free field in a time of 1:58.16 as the only mark under 2:00.
• Waseda University’s Daiki Tanaka got it done for the men, hitting a 2free time of 1:48.20 tonight.
• The women’s 200m IM saw Toyo University student-athlete Imai Tsuki touch first in 2:12.25.
• Toyo took the women’s 400m medley relay in a time of 4:01.48, under half a second off of the meet record. Highlight splits include Shirai’s 1:00.57 lead-off and Natsumi Sakai‘s 54.17 anchor.
• Waseda was victorious in the men’s medley relay, hitting a time of 3:36.45 to top the podium.