Ohashi Opts Out Of 400 IM, Ikee Aims For 5 Events At Worlds-Qualifier (Women’s Entries)

2023 JAPAN SWIM

• Tuesday, April 4th – Saturday, April 9th
• Tokyo Aquatics Center
• LCM (50m)
• Qualification Meet For World Championships, World Junior Championships, World University Games, Asian Games
• JPN Selection Criteria
• Entries (in Japanese)

The 2023 Japan Swim is on the horizon with the all-important competition scheduled for Tuesday, April 4th through April 9th in Tokyo.

The elite affair represents the sole qualifying opportunity for Japanese swimmers to gain nomination for this summer’s biggest international meets, including the home-based World Championships, the World Junior Championships, World University Games and Asian Games.

We’ve reported on the Japanese Swimming Federation’s (JASF) selection policy, which deems swimmers need to hit the Paris Olympic Qualifying Times at this competition in order to be considered for Fukuoka. You can read more about the policy here.

Additionally, qualifying for Fukouka could bring Japanese swimmers one step closer to Paris 2024 selection, as any individual gold medalist at this summer’s World Championships garners automatic qualification in that same event for the next Olympic Games.

The initial entries for both men and women have been published, giving us a glimpse into the events key swimmers will be taking on.

Men’s Entries Post 

Of particular note on the women’s entries is the fact that two-time Olympic champion Yui Ohashi has opted out of the 400m IM event.

The 27-year-old is indeed entered in the 200m IM but has opted for the 200m free and 100m breast instead of the long IM.

After winning both IMs in Tokyo at the Olympic Games, Ohashi had a relatively disappointing follow-up World Championships. In Budapest, Ohashi missed the 200m IM final, placing 13th in 2:12.05 while her time of 4:37.99 relegated her off the podium in 5th in the 400m IM.

In the meantime, performances for teenaged teammates Mio Narita and Ageha Tanigawa have been moving in the opposite direction, with Narita owning a season-best 400m IM result of 4:37.32 while Tanigawa is ranked 6th in the world with a time of 4:40.00.

As far as the 200m free, Ohashi ranks as Japan’s 7th fastest woman ever, owning a lifetime best of 1:57.97 from 2018, putting her within the realm of potentially being able to at least make the women’s 4x200m free relay squad for Fukuoka.

Leukemia survivor Rikako Ikee is entered in 5 events, taking on her bread-and-butter 50m/100m distances of the freestyle and butterfly, in addition to the 200m free.

Ikee put up a time of 1:59.46 in the 2free at last year’s Japan Swim and wound up taking most of 2022 off of racing. We’ll see what the 22-year-old is able to post with another solid several months of training under her belt.

Key Women’s Entries for 2023 Japan Swim (World Championships Qualifier)

Reona Aoki – 50m/100m/200m breast
Marina Furbayash – 100m/200m back
Suzuka Hasegawa – 50m/100m/200m fly
Chihiro Igarashi – 50m/100m/200m free
Rikako Ikee – 50m/100m/200m free, 50m/100m fly
Nagisa Ikemoto – 50m/100m/200m free
Runa Imai – 50m/100m/200m breast
Waka Kobori – 200m/400m/800m free, 400m IM
Anna Konishi – 50m/100m back
Hiroko Makino – 100m free, 50m breast, 50m/100m/200m fly
Miyu Namba – 800m free
Mio Narita – 200m/400m IM
Yui Ohashi – 200m free, 200m IM, 100m breast
Rio Shirai – 100m free, 100m/200m back
Ai Soma – 50m free, 50m back, 50m/100m fly
Ageha Tanigawa – 1500m free, 200m/400m IM
Karin Uchida – 100m/200m fly
Kanako Watanabe – 100m/200m breast