Olympic Medalist Matsushita Rips 1:56.35 Lifetime Best In 200 IM At JPN Swim

2025 JAPAN SWIM

• Thursday, March 20th – Sunday, March 23rd
• Tokyo Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview #1
• SwimSwam Preview #2
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

The 2025 Japan Swim continued from Tokyo with swimmers vying for a chance to add their names to the growing Japanese roster for this summer’s World Championships.

One man we know who will not be in Singapore is 30-year-old Daiya Seto, as the Olympic medalist revealed he has withdrawn from the remainder of this competition. His decision stems from a lingering broken rib he suffered last year which is impacting his performance. Look for a follow-up post regarding this situation.

In his stead, it was Tomoyuki Matsushita who took the gold in the men’s 200m IM, ripping a big-time personal best in the process.

Matsushita, who earned Japan’s sole Olympic medal in Paris via his 400m IM silver, stopped the clock at a time of 1:56.35, the best performance of his career.

In a heated battle with Kosuke Makino, Matsushita split 25.29/54.70/1:28.47/1:56.35 to get the job done, touching less than half a second ahead. Makino settled for silver in 1:56.80 with both men easily clearing the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 1:59.05 needed for Singapore.

Entering this competition, Matsushita’s personal best rested at the 1:57.60 produced last September. Makino’s PB was represented by the 1:57.32 established in that same timeframe.

Both Matsuthia and Makino insert themselves into the list of all-time Japanese performers in respective slots of #3 and #4. Additionally, they join Japanese heroes Kosuke Hagino and Seto as the only four athletes to ever have delved under the 1:57 barrier in the event.

Top 5 Japanese Men’s LCM 200 IM Performers

1. Kosuke Hagino – 1:55.07, 2016
2. Daiya Seto – 1:55.55, 2020
3. Tomoyuki Matsushita – 1:56.35, 2025
4. Kosuke Makino – 1:56.80, 2025
5. So Ogata – 1:57.06, 2023

Matsushita and Makino now top the world rankings on the season.

Continuing her impressive momentum, 34-year-old Satomi Suzuki crushed a time of 2:23.98 to earn World Championshps qualification in the women’s 200m breast.

Suzuki dipped under the 2:25.91 time standard, as did runner-up Kotomi Kato, the two-time 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships gold medalist, who registered 2:24.24.

This 2breast is the event in which Suzuki placed 4th last year in Paris, putting up a time there of 2:22.54 12 years after the veteran took silver in the event in London.

Satomi slides into the season’s world rankings as the 5th-swiftest performer in the world thus far.

24-year-old Rikako Ikee was victorious in the women’s 50m fly. Ikee, who beat leukemia with which she was diagnosed in 2019, punched a result of 25.41 to blow the ‘A’ standard of 26.23 to bits.

University of Tennessee commit Mizuki Hirai was next to the wall in 25.98 and Ai Soma captured the bronze in 26.40.

Ikee owns a lifetime best and Japanese national record with the 25.11 turned in during the 2018 Mare Nostrum Tour. That was the same year she became the first-ever female MVP of the Asian Games.

Ikee is a three-time Olympian and has stated she expects to retire after the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. She continues to train in Australia under the direction of Mel Marshall at Griffith University.

Ikee now dethrones Aussie Alexandria Perkins to wear the world rankings crown.

Hidekazu Takehara got it done for gold in the men’s 200m back, hitting a time of 1:56.11. That’s the 2nd best time of his career, within range of the 1:56.05 notched at last September’s Japan Student Games to become Japan’s 4th-swiftest performer in history.

Tonight it was Kodai Nishiono who snagged the silver, also impressive with a mark of 1:56.28.

Nishiono obliterated his previous career-quickest effort of 1:57.43 from this same meet two years ago. He’s now Japan’s 6th-best swimmer ever in this 2back event and suddenly enters the conversation for the World Championships.

The duo now take over the top two spots in the rankings this season.

Japanese men have historically been some of the best in the world in the 200m breaststroke and that prowess was on full display this evening.

The top 3 finishers all cleared the 2:08 barrier, led by Yamato Fukasawa and his powerful 2:07.47.

Fukasawa opened in a super speedy 1:00.93 and brought it home in 1:06.54 to hold off former world record holder Ippei Watanabe.

Watanabe split 1:01.48/1:06.16 to nearly overtake Fukasawa, settling for silver in 2:07.64.

Yu Hanaguruma, silver medalist in this event at the 2022 World Championships, hit 2:07.93 as the bronze medalist.

The 200m breast ‘A’ standard sits at 2:10.32 so overcoming that threshold was no problem for these powerhouse performers.

Remarkably, Fukasawa has already been quicker this season, ranked #1 in the world by way of the 2:07.24 he turned in at February’s Konami Open.

Watanabe and Hanaguruma now represent the 3rd and 4th-quickest performers this season, respectively.

Finally, 18-year-old Mio Narita made some noise in the women’s 200m back.

After no one qualified for Worlds in the 100m back, teen Narita got it done in the longer distance, producing a time of 2:10.26.

Although that’s off her personal best of 2:09.54, it was enough for gold, eking out the victory ahead of Chiaki Yamamoto who also clocked a Singapore-worthy time in 2:10.48.

Additional Notes

• National record holder Katsuhiro Matsumoto fell painstakingly shy of the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard in the men’s 100m freestyle. Matsumoto earned gold in 48.36, just .02 short of the 48.34 cut needed for Singapore. 17-year-old Tatsuya Murasa notched a new Japanese National High School Record of 48.75 en route to silver. Takaki Hara was also under 49 seconds with 48.99 as the bronze medalist.
• The women’s 100m free field also fell short of the Singapore standard, with Nagisa Ikemoto getting to the wall first in 54.52. She and Shiho Matsumoto, who hit 54.99, were the only ones under the 55-second barrier. The 100m butterfly champion here, Hirai, bagged the bronze in 55.06.

Japanese World Championships Qualifiers Through Day Three

• Taikan Tanaka – men’s 50m fly
• Katsuhiro Matsumoto – men’s 50m fly
• Mio Narita – women’s 200m IM, 200m back
• Shiho Matsumoto – women’s 200m IM
• Kazushi Imafuku – men’s 400m free
• Ichika Kajimoto – women’s 400m free
• Miyu Namba – women’s 400m free
• Yamato Fukasawa – men’s 100m breast, 200m breast
• Mizuki Hirai – women’s 100m fly, 50m fly
• Rikako Ikee – women’s 100m fly, 50m fly
• Tatsuya Murasa – men’s 200m free
• Tomoyuki Matsushita – men’s 200m free, 200m IM
• Satomi Suzuki – women’s 100m breast, 200m breast
• Reona Aoki – women’s 100m breast
• Nagisa Ikemoto – women’s 200m free
• Genki Terakado – men’s 200m fly
• Takumi Terada – men’s 200m fly
• Taku Taniguchi – men’s 50m breast, 100m breast
• Toshinari Yanagisawa – men’s 50m breast
• Yasuki Fujimoto – women’s 200m fly
• Miki Takahashi – women’s 50m back
• Kosuke Makino – men’s 200m IM
• Kotomi Kato – women’s 200m breast
• Hidekazu Takehara – men’s 200m back
• Kodai Nishiono – men’s 200m back
• Ippei Watanabe – men’s 200m breast
• Chiaki Yamamoto – women’s 200m back