2023 TOKYO METRO NEW YEAR’S MEET
- Saturday, January 7th & Sunday, January 8th
- Tatsumi International Swimming Center
- SCM (25m)
- Entries (in Japanese)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap
- Results (in Japanese)
The 2023 Tokyo Metro New Year’s Meet wrapped up from the Tatsumi International Swimming Center tonight with 22-year-old Rikako Ikee back in the water.
The leukemia survivor and two-time Olympian took on the women’s 100m freestyle where she dominated the field by nearly 2 seconds. Stopping the clock in a time of 53.59, Ikee opened in 25.86 and closed in 27.73 to double up on her 50m fly victory from night one.
For Ikee, her 53.59 time here checks in as her 2nd best performance since she returned to competition in late 2020. The following year she posted a time of 53.08 at the 2021 Japanese Short Course Championships.
Ikee sat out of last year’s Short Course National Championships, thus forgoing qualification for Melbourne. The two-time Olympian said she wanted to focus on the home-based 2023 World Championships (50m) and ultimately her goal of making the Japanese squad for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The men’s 100m free saw Juran Mizohata get it done for gold, logging a time of 47.93. He represented the only competitor to get under the 48-second threshold. His time here obliterated his own previous personal best, a time of 48.71 established back in 2017.
Nao Horomura collected a second gold tonight, putting up a time of 52.00 to grab the top spot in the men’s 100m fly. Horomura won the men’s 200m fly last night.
Of note, in the boys’ 17-18 age race, 17-year-old Riu Matsui logged a time of 52.98. That would have rendered the teen a 5th-place finish in the open race.
Hiroko Makino doubled up on the women’s fly events as well, following up her 2fly win last night with a victory in the 1fly. She punched a time of 56.85 for the win, establishing a big-time personal best in the process. Her sub-57 outing here now renders Makino Japan’s 7th fastest performer all-time in the event.
The swim was impressive considering Makino took on a tough double this evening, having raced the women’s 2IM earlier in the session. Makino topped the podium in that event as well, stopping the clock in a time of 2:06.57.
She wasn’t alone at the wall, however, as Shiho Matsumoto touched simultaneously for the women to share the gold. They were the only swimmers of the field to get under 2:11 in the race. Matsumoto is also a double winner with this victory after having earned 50m free gold last night.
Additional Winners
- Tomohiro Ito won the men’s 200m back in a time of 1:54.10, adding to his 1back win from yesterday.
- The men’s 200m breast saw Daiki Wakayama upgrade his 1breast silver from last night, with Wakayama taking the longer event in a time of 2:08.78.
- Runa Imai was the women’s 1breast victor, producing a winning effort of 2:21.02 to win by over 3 seconds.
