Koseki & Seto Dethrone World #1s In 100 Breast, 200 Fly

14TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SELECTION MEET (JAPAN)

• Saturday, October 27th – Sunday, October 28th
• Tatsumi International Swim Center, Tokyo, Japan
• SCM
• Japan’s qualifying times for 2018 Short Course World Championships
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Entry List
• Results

Even without Olympic champion Kosuke Hagino, IM maestro Yui Ohashi and red-hot sprinter Rikako Ikee in the water this weekend at the Japanese Selection Meet for this December’s Short Course World Championships, there was still plenty of talent making waves on day 1 of the domestic competition.

26-year-old Yasuhiro Koseki did major damage in the men’s 100m breaststroke event, setting a new National Record in the event en route to gold. Koseki, who won the LCM version of this event at this year’s Pan Pacific Championships, stopped the clock tonight in 56.29 to lower his own mark of 56.34.

Splitting 26.39/29.90, Koseki registered the only sub-57 mark of the field and stamped his name onto the roster for this year’s SC World Championships in the event. He also now branded himself as ‘the hunted’, taking over the world rankings crown from Brazil’s Felipe Lima.

Another record was set in the men’s 50m fly event, as Takeshi Kawamoto tied the national standard with his podium-topping effort. Registering a winning time of 22.49 tonight, Kawamoto matched the NR set by Masayuki Kishida back in 2009 at a domestic meet.

Olympic medalist Daiya Seto dove in twice tonight, taking golds in each of his signature events. In the 400m IM, Seto registered the win in a mark of 4:01.62. That represented Seto’s 3rd consecutive national short course title in the event.

Seto has been as fast as 3:57.25 in this event this season, a time that checked in as a new FINA World Cup Series Record, as well as the top time in the world so far.

The men’s 200 fly was Seto’s other victim this evening, as the 24-year-old collected a winning effort of 1:49.87. That outing falls within a second of his own national record of 1:48.92 from the 2014 World Championships and improves upon the 1:51.01 he threw down at the World Cup in Budapest.

Seto’s sub-1:50 effort now positions the new Dad above South African Chad Le Clos in the world rankings, dethroning Le Clos from his former #1 spot.

25-year-old Miho Takahashi shook up the world rankings in the women’s edition of the 400m IM, topping the podium in a stellar 4:29.07. That outing now positions Takahashi behind teammate Yui Ohashi in the world rankings, sitting 3rd at this point in the season.

24-year-old Tomomi Aoki made her presence known in the women’s 200m freestyle tonight. The relay bronze medalist from Pan Pacs punched a time of 1:54.77 to log the only time of the field under 1:55 and set herself among the world’s best at #7 in the rankings this season.

Additional Winners on Day 1:

• Kanako Watanabe nailed the top prize in the women’s 100m breststroke, taking the gold in a time of 1:05.33.
• The women’s 200m fly saw Suzuka Hasegawa take the win in a mark of 2:05.28.
• Mr. Consistency, Ryosuke Irie, won the men’s 200m back in 1:50.89. He’s already been as fast as 1:50.15 this season to rank #2 in the world.
• Sayaka Akase took the women’s 200m back in a time of 2:04.15.
• National record holder Katsumi Nakamura won the men’s 50m free in 21.21.
• The women’s 50m fly saw Ai Soma rise to the occasion, clocking 25.83 for the victory.
• Reo Sakata was tonight’s winner in the men’s 200m free, as the 22-year-old notched a mark of 1;45.20 for the win by just .03.
• Fujimori won the men’s 100m fly in 51.96, taking the gold by over a second a half.
• The women’s 100m fly saw Runa Imai swim away victoriously, clinching the top prize in a time of 58.60.