Peaty Cracks 27, Ikee Doubles Up On Day Of Japan Open

JAPAN OPEN 2017

• Thursday, May 18th (official training); Friday, May 19th – Sunday, May 21st (competition)
• Tatsumi International Swimming Center, Tokyo, Japan
• LCM
• Prelims at 9:30am local (8:30pm EDT)/Finals at 4pm local (3am EDT)
• Meet Central
• Entry Lists (in Japanese)
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Live Stream
• Entry Lists/Live Results (English)

Day 2 of the Japan Open continued with Japan’s biggest stars going head-to-head with Great Britain’s, along with some Chinese and Australians in the mix.

After a sub-59 second performance in the 100 on day 1, British breaststroke dynamo Adam Peaty was back in action today in the 50 breaststroke. Peaty clocked 26.94, well off his season-best of 26.48 but a quick swim nonetheless. Peaty finished with over a half-second margin over runner-up Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan, who clocked 27.44. China’s Yan Zibei took 3rd in 27.53.

Other Brits collecting wins on day 2 were 2015 World Champion James Guy and Ben Proud. Guy, coming off tying his PB in the 200 fly yesterday, took the win in the men’s 400 freestyle in a time of 3:46.61. Naito Ehara held a three-second lead at the halfway mark, but Guy slightly negative split the race to storm home in 1:53.27 to take the win over Ehara (3:47.57).

Proud won the 50 fly by three tenths over Takeshi Kawamoto, 23.31 to 23.66. Duncan Scott was also in action on day 2, swimming the 100 freestyle in what was a closely contested affair. Shinri Shioura, Katsumi Nakamura and Scott were all within 0.04 of each other, with Shioura taking the win in 48.82. Nakamura was 2nd in 48.84, and Scott was 3rd in 48.86.

400 IM Olympic champ Kosuke Hagino was also in the 100 free placing 5th (49.57), not long after he took third in a stacked 400 IM final. Hagino and countrymen Daiya Seto and Takeharu Fujimori were all together 200m in before Seto pulled away on the breaststroke to take the win in 4:10.18. Fujimori was 2nd in 4:10.90, Hagino 3rd in 4:11.53, and 200 breast world record holder Ippei Watanabe unleashed a 1:08.27 breast leg to run down Britain’s Max Litchfield for 4th in 4:16.91.

On the women’s side, Rikako Ikee continued her strong showing after winning the 200 free on day 1, doubling up in the women’s 50 fly and 100 free.

In the 50 fly she clocked a blistering 25.78, just off her season-best of 25.51 that ranks her 2nd in the world to Swedish world record holder Sarah Sjostrom. Sayuki Ouchi took 2nd in 26.63, and Britain’s Alys Thomas was 3rd in 26.78.

In the 100 free Ikee put up a time of 54.57 to defeat countrywomen Tomomi Aoki (54.90) and Ouchi (55.09).

Another notable race on the women’s side was the 400 IM, where Japan’s Yui Ohhashi (4:36.48) defeated countrywoman Sakiko Shimizu (4:37.78) and Britain’s Hannah Miley (4:38.32). Ohhashi currently sits atop the world rankings with her 4:31.42 from April, making her a premier contender in the race at the upcoming World Championships.

Other winners on day 2:

• GBR’s Imogen Clark topped Satomi Suzuki (JPN) and Sarah Vasey (GBR) in the women’s 50 breast, 30.63 to 30.82 and 30.87.
• Chihiro Igarashi won the women’s 400 free in 4:09.37.
• Rio Shirai (2:09.63) and Keita Sunama (1:58.56) were victorious in the women’s and men’s 200 backstroke. The men’s race was similar to the 100 free, where the top-3 were separated by mere tenths. Hayate Matsubara (1:58.63) and Masaki Kaneko (1:58.64) took 2nd and 3rd.